The Beach House
by beautifulpurpleflame
Summary: AU - One house, two women, three men, one very interesting summer. BBXRae
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 1

The sun was blazing down relentlessly on the two young women in the car. Both had their visors pulled down, but that only protected their eyes. The rest of their body was sizzling beneath the harsh rays. But being in slight discomfort never stopped Kori from smiling and enjoying every moment of every day. She sat in the passenger's seat with her feet on the dashboard, painting her toenails a fresh pink. As she painted she hummed along to the radio and giggled to herself every now and then with pure joy of the situation. Raven, on the other hand, wasn't in the best of moods. Not that she ever was. She'd been driving for three days now and was quite ready to kick the redhead beside her out of the car while it was still in motion.

"Are we almost there?" Kori asked as she wiggled her freshly painted toes.

"Yes, Kori, we're almost there," Raven said through her teeth. Her friend had been asking this question for the past two hours and she was ready to throttle her.

"Oh, I cannot wait to get there," said Kori excitedly. "Is the house truly as beautiful as it looked in the photographs?"

"How should I know?" said Raven. "I haven't seen it in person. But I can tell you that if it isn't the people who rented it to us are going to have to answer to me."

The two girls had just graduated from Gotham University and decided to rent a beach house for the summer on the other side of the country, since they were planning on moving to Jump City anyway. Kori had graduated with a bachelor's degree in English, her second language, while Raven had graduated with a degree in English and History. The two had been put together as roommates when they were sophomores and somehow found a way to get along. Kori was outgoing, spunky, and sweet. Raven was quiet, smart, and a loner. The first few weeks were hell, but they soon got a good rhythm going and had clicked.

"Will we be on the sand?" asked Kori.

"We should be," said Raven.

"How close are we to the town?" asked Kori.

"Two miles away," said Raven.

"Can we go swimming when we get there?" asked Kori. "Should we be weary of sharks? Do you suppose the water is warm? Did we pack the waterproof sunscreen? Do we have goggles?"

Raven clenched her teeth hard as Kori's incessant chattering began to get the better of her patience. Finally she had had enough and cut her friend off from her next question with, "Isn't this your favorite song?"

"Oh, yes, it is!" said Kori who then happily began to sing along, much to Raven's relief. Well… not as much relief as getting Kori to stop talking to her.

About an equal distance from the beach house away in the opposite direction traveled another car, this one with three occupants inside and a surfboard tied to the roof. All three had a thick film of sweat covering their body, thanks to their air conditioner being broken. Even with the windows down, the three young men were suffering. Vic was driving, he usually was, while Dick sat in the passenger's seat and Gar was lying down on the backseat.

"How much longer?" whined Gar.

"Gar, I swear to God if you ask that again I'm going to rip you a new one," threatened Dick.

"I've only asked three times!" said Gar.

"In the last five minutes!" said Dick.

"Hey, shut up you two," said Vic. "It's hard enough to concentrate on the road with sweat dripping into my eyes. Damn you, Gar."

"For the hundredth time, I didn't break your damn AC!" said Gar.

"It was working fine until you touched it!" Vic accused.

"Well, maybe I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and it happened to breakdown while I was near it," said Gar. "That doesn't mean it had anything to do with me!"

"You break everything you touch!" said Vic. "I should've known better than to let you even sit in my baby."

"Would you stop calling your car that?" said Gar. "It's so creepy."

"You're just jealous cuz you don't have a car," smirked Vic.

"I told you, I'm not getting a car until I can afford one that doesn't run on gas!" said Gar. "I, unlike you, care about the environment."

The three young men were on their way to a beach house they'd rented for the next three months. Vic had just finished an apprenticeship at a popular car company and was planning on opening his own car shop in the fall, Dick was on vacation from training to be a police officer, and Gar had just graduated from Steel University with a degree in zoology. The three had met in college, when Vic was a junior, Dick was a sophomore, and Gar was a freshmen, and had been friends ever since.

"Are we there yet?" asked Gar with a sigh.

"That's it!" said Dick, who grabbed the folded up map they'd been using, turned around, and began beating Gar.

"Dude! Cut it out!" shouted Gar who tried to get out of the way of the lashings.

"Hey, both of y'all cut it out!" Vic shouted as he nearly lost control of the car. "If you guys get us in an accident I'll kill ya!" He swerved in and out of the road, on purpose, until Dick was finally forced to sit in his seat again.

"Aw, I've got paper cuts!" Gar cried.

"You're lucky I didn't give you worse," said Dick.

"Thank God," said Vic with a relieved sigh. "I think I see the house."

Meanwhile, Raven and Kori were closing in on the beach house they'd rented. Raven was holding onto the steering wheel so tightly her pale knuckles were turning white and her jaw was tight. She wasn't sure she could survive another minute being trapped in this car with Kori. And then, as if her prayers were answered, she spotted the house. She double checked the address, which she'd written down, and after doing the math realized that it was, indeed, the house.

"Kori, guess what," she said, her voice even.

"What?" Kori asked innocently.

"We're here," said Raven.

"We are?" exclaimed Kori. She looked ahead and saw the very large beach house. "Hurray!"

Raven slowed down as she approached the driveway and, as she did, a car coming in the opposite direction did the same. They both came to a stop and both had their directional on for the same driveway.

"Hey, did we hire maids or something?" Vic asked.

"I don't think so," said Dick.

"Then why are these chicks trying to pull into our driveway?" asked Vic.

"Is this the right place?" asked Gar.

"Yeah, 364 Scuttlebutt Road," said Dick. "Maybe they're lost."

Raven groaned and tapped her fingers on the wheel. "What do these guys want?" she said.

"Perhaps they are going to do some work on the house," suggested Kori.

"The house shouldn't need any work," said Raven. "Well, I'm not waiting anymore." She turned the car and pulled in. Once she'd turned into the driveway Vic followed and pulled in behind her. Both turned their cars off and everyone soon piled out. The two groups met between both cars and looked each other over, trying to figure out what was going on.

Kori was tall, thin, and sinfully pretty. Her skin seemed naturally tanned, something odd for a redhead, and flawless. Her long red hair hung free and danced with the wind while her sparkling green, innocent eyes looked at the three young men before her.

Raven was short, petite, and unaware of any beauty she might've held. She was as pale as the moon and seemed just as distant. Her black hair rested above her shoulders, straight as straw, and her violet/blue, untrusting eyes sized up the men that had exited from the other car.

Vic was a hulk of a man; tall, built with thick muscle, and very handsome. His skin resembled milk chocolate, which was just as sweet as he was. His head was shaved and gleamed brilliantly beneath the bright sun. His eyes were gray and were currently a little curious and confused.

Dick was tall, though not nearly as tall as Vic, with a beautiful build and above average looks. He was slightly sunburned at the moment on his shoulders and nose which looked a bit painful. His hair was jet black, which made his head feel very hot beneath the sun, and spiked in a signature way. His eyes were completely shielded behind dark sunglasses.

Gar was of an average height with a lean build and was dashingly handsome. It was just summer and he was already deeply tanned; he'd always tanned very well. His natural blond hair was spiked and dyed green, the same as his eyes.

"You ladies lost?" asked Vic.

"Are you?" asked Raven.

"Excuse me?" asked a confused Vic.

"Is there a problem?" asked Kori. "We have rented this house for the summer, correct Raven?"

"Yeah, this is the place," said Raven.

"Uh, I think you're mistaken," said Dick. "We've rented this house for the summer."

"That's impossible," Raven replied matter-of-factly. "We rented it. I'll get the paperwork." She went back over to her car and searched for the papers.

Dick, seeing what she was doing, did the same. Once they both had the proper documents they returned and exchanged information. Their friends crowded around them to see who was in the wrong.

"Uh, I hate to tell you this, but you rented it for next summer," said Raven.

"What? No we didn't," said Dick.

"Yes, you did," said Raven, showing him his own paperwork. "See? This is for next summer."

Dick looked it over and realized that the date was correct, except for the year. He really had rented it for the next summer. "Oh shit."

"Dude, are you kidding me?" said Gar. "How could you screw this up?"

"When I said next summer they must've thought I meant the summer after this one," said Dick, folding the paper back up angrily.

"Good job, Dick," said Vic, rubbing his sweaty forehead.

"Then we are correct?" asked Kori.

"Yes, we're the one's who're supposed to be here," said Raven. "Sorry about the mix up, guys."

"Sorry? What're you sorry about?" said Gar. "You've got a house to live in and now we're homeless!"

"Calm down, Gar," said Vic. "We'll figure something out."

"My apartment's not gonna be ready until September!" said Gar. "What the hell am I gonna do? And if you think I'm spending another five hours in that car with you two you're crazy!"

"Well we don't have much a choice now, do we?" said Dick.

"You're so gonna pay for this," Gar growled at his friend in the sunglasses. "You beat me up with a map and now you've spent our money on a house we can't even use for a year!"

"I'm sorry, okay!" said Dick. "I made a mistake, so sue me!"

"Oh, I will!" said Gar.

"Break it up you two!" said Vic, getting in between them.

"Please, do not fight," said Kori walking over to them. "Friends should not fight." She and Dick made eye contact and suddenly both felt something flutter inside of them. Poor Kori was quite caught off guard, it was a pretty safe guess that Dick was as well, and could barely form more words to talk. "M-Maybe you would like to rest for a little while? I am sure Raven would not mind if you stayed while you discussed what you are going to do from here. You do not mind, do you Raven?"

"I do, but I doubt my opinion matters at all," said Raven, pulling the keys to the house out of an envelope. "Come on boys, you might as well look around the house you're going to be staying in next year."

"Hey, who're you calling a boy?" said Gar.

"Shut up before they tell us to get off the property," said Vic with a harsh jab to Gar's ribs. "I've gotta pee like there's no tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 2

The initial response from the five as they entered the large house was of awe. It was grand in scale, fully furnished, and was perfectly decorated to accent the beach that it rested on. The group separated and went looking around to get a feel for it. There were three bedrooms, two and half bathrooms, an attic, a very large open living room that held a baby grand piano, a state of the art kitchen, a basement, a deck that went right over the sand of the beach, an outdoor shower, and a small shed.

"This place is so cool," said Gar, nearly ready to cry. "I wanna live here."

"Well, we will next year," said Vic. "At least we have something to look forward to."

"Yeah, that's the silver lining here," said Dick, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, you don't have any sarcasm rights since this was all your fault," said Gar, pointing at Dick accusingly.

"Let it go already," said Dick. "I said I was sorry."

"Sorry doesn't give me my money back and a place to live for the next three months!" said Gar.

While the three men began to bicker again the girls watched from the kitchen.

"I can't wait for them to leave," said Raven, looking at them as if they were unleashed animals.

"Raven, may I talk to you?" Kori asked.

"Has anything stopped you before now?" said Raven.

"Well, I feel very bad for those gentlemen," said Kori.

"What gentlemen?" said Raven. "I hope you're not referring to those three."

"Do you not think we should help them?" asked Kori. "They are homeless now."

"That's their own fault," said Raven.

"But what if we were the ones who were not correct?" asked Kori. "What if we were the ones who had rented the house for next summer? Would you not want them to help us?"

"Just what do you want me to do, Kori?" asked Raven.

"Well, perhaps we could let them share our home with us," Kori suggested.

Raven stared at the redhead for a silent and solid three seconds. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I am being serious," said Kori. "There is enough room for all of us."

"These are strangers we're talking about," said Raven. "We know nothing about them and you want them to live with us? Absolutely not."

"But they seem to be nice," said Kori.

"Seeming to be nice and actually being nice are two different things," said Raven.

"Perhaps we should get to know them, then," said Kori.

"No, we're not getting to know them because we're not going to let them stay with us," said Raven. "End of discussion so don't push it any further."

"But I must push!" said Kori. "We must do what is right, Raven. We cannot leave them helpless as they are."

"I can," said Raven who then turned to walk away.

Kori pouted and began to think as quickly as she could. She might've been cute and sweet, but she also liked to get her way. She decided she'd have to play dirty and go above Raven's head. Besides, they'd each paid for half of the cost, so Kori figured she could do as she pleased. She put a large smile on her face and went over to the three men.

"Excuse me, sirs," she said, only to realize they were on the floor and somehow each had another in a headlock. "Oh, um, shall I wait?"

"No, what's up?" asked Vic, releasing Gar's head and easily shaking Dick off of his own.

"Well I was talking with my very good friend Raven and we have decided that we would like to share the house with you," she said with a big smile.

"Are you serious?" said Gar.

"Yes," Kori nodded. "I am most certain that there is enough room for all of us and it would be bad of us not to help you in your time of need."

"Wow, thanks," said Dick. He and the redhead made eye contact again, which was hard to tell since he wore such dark sunglasses, and both felt themselves blush. "But, I think we should talk about it first."

"What're you, high?" said Gar. "We'll definitely take you up on your offer! Thanks!"

"I am very happy to hear that," said Kori, clapping. "Now let us all gather our luggage and do the unpacking."

Raven dragged the last of her things out of the car and took a rest. The sun was still pretty strong and the air was nearly unbearably hot. She wiped some sweat away from her forehead and heard the front door opening. She looked up and saw all three men, and Kori, exiting. She was quite glad to see that the men were leaving at last and she could settle in. It wasn't until none of them actually got into their car and, instead, began unpacking it did she realize something was very wrong. Kori came over and began to get her own things out of the car.

"Um, Kori?" said Raven.

"Yes?" she said.

"What's going on?" Raven asked.

"Oh, I have invited our new friends to stay with us," she said with a smile.

"You did what?" Raven hissed. "I thought I said no!"

"Well you are not the boss of me," said Kori, putting her nose into the air. "I own half of this house for the summer and so I can say whom I want to stay with us."

"And I suppose I don't?" said Raven, crossing her arms.

"Hey, thanks again for letting us stay," said Dick with a smile as he and the other two headed into the house with some of their things.

Kori watched the dark haired man walk away and got a slight dreamy look in her eyes. That's when Raven saw what was going on and was filled with rage. Her jaw tightened, her eyes narrowed, and she let out a harsh breath through her nose that sounded like a growl. This caught Kori's attention and she finally pulled her eyes off Dick and looked back to her friend. The look Raven was giving her was quite startling and she truly grew frightened for a moment.

"Is that what this is about?" Raven said through her teeth, though her voice was even. "You're trying to spark some sort of summer romance?"

"What? No, of course not," said Kori quickly, and guiltily. "I just believe letting them stay here is the right thing to do."

"Well we're starting the summer off brilliantly, aren't we?" said Raven with a fake smile, anger radiating off of her, as she slammed the car door.

"Hey, I think we should talk about who's gonna sleep where," Gar called from the doorway.

Raven gave Kori one last evil look and then headed into the house. Kori was quick to follow after her, nervous for what her friend may do to the men folk. Said men were standing at the base of the stairs that led to the second floor with all of their things. Raven approached them with a neutral look but anyone with any sense would be aware of the fact that she wasn't happy.

"Okay so there're three bedrooms, right?" said Gar. "Who's going where?"

"I'm getting my own room," Raven said firmly. "Contrary to what Kori's told you, I don't want you three here. But, seeing as no matter what I've been fated to be stuck with people who don't care about my opinion, you're here. Now does anyone want to deny me having my own room?"

"No," all three men said quickly.

"Good," said Raven. "I'm in the room upstairs on the left."

"But that's the one with the window seat!" Gar whined. She shot him a glance that made his hair stand on end and he quickly cowered behind his muscular friend for protection.

"Okay so that leaves the room down here and the other one upstairs," said Vic. "And I'm going to assume you're not going to want to share with any of us, Kori."

"I suppose it would not be proper," said Kori with a giggle. "Which bedroom do you suppose is bigger?"

"I think the one down here is bigger," said Dick.

"Then I shall take the room upstairs so you all will have the bigger room," said Kori.

"Not that it matters since there's only one bed," said Gar. "I call the attic."

"It's gonna be hot as hell up there, man," said Vic.

"Come on, you know I love the heat," said Gar with a smile. "I grew up in way hotter weather than this."

"Well if you want the attic then I've got the basement," said Vic. "I've checked it out and it's pretty sweet. Just needs some furniture."

"So I guess I get the room down here," said Dick.

"Great, we've all got rooms," said Raven unenthusiastically and then left to get all of her luggage.

"Uh, Kori, was it?" said Vic.

"Yes?" Kori answered.

"I thought you said that you both wanted us here," said Vic.

"I am afraid I have told a lie of white," said Kori with a slight blush from being caught. "But it was the only way to ensure you could stay with us."

"You know if your friend isn't comfortable with us staying here maybe we shouldn't," said Vic.

"She'll get over it," said Gar. "Besides, she can't be as mean as she seems, right Kori?"

"Um…well…" said Kori, unsure of how to answer the question. "She is very good at heart but very untrusting and stubborn. I suggest none of us bother her right now, since I am quite certain she is in a foul disposition."

To say that Raven was upset about the situation was a clear understatement. She hadn't counted on anything like this and was certain her summer was ruined. She'd only agreed to rent this house with Kori because she wanted to work on her novel in peace and quiet. With three men in the house, plus Kori, it was a safe bet that there would be no peace or quiet from now until they moved out at summer's end.

But she was also upset because of what Kori had done behind her back. There were a couple reasons as to why she didn't want these men living with them. One, they were strangers! Two, they were men. Three, they outnumbered herself and Kori. Four, she didn't like people in general and she felt she could only live with one other person at the most. For Kori to tell them that they could stay and disregard her feelings really felt like a stab in the back.

She dragged her two suitcases into the house and then up the stairs. As she did everyone seemed to jump out of her way as if she was Moses and they were the Red Sea. This she was glad for, since she didn't want to deal with anyone right now, especially strange men who'd invaded what was supposed to be her tranquil summer sanctuary.

Once they were unpacked all but Raven headed into the town to get some groceries and look around for some furniture for Vic and Gar. Oddly, Dick had shoved Gar into the passenger's seat so that he could sit in the back with Kori. Gar was certainly surprised at first, since he never got shotgun, but when he saw the looks that were being passed between his friend and the hot redhead he figured out what was going on.

They reached the small town and found it to be quite nice. It had just about everything a town needed and felt like a very cozy place. Everyone seemed to know each other and when the carload of new young people entered everyone wanted to know who they were.

"I didn't know so many people could be smiling at the same time," said Gar as they passed another group of grinning people who waved at them.

"This town is kinda weird," said Vic. They passed an auto shop and he added, "But I think I like it."

"Oh, look at all of these quaint little shops!" exclaimed Kori. "I cannot wait to visit them all."

"Not tonight, though, we're just getting what we need," said Vic.

They passed a store that had a beautiful sundress in the window. "But I _need_ that!" Kori cried.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 3

Raven was quite happy to be all alone in the large house. While the rest of her roommates were out she'd set up her room to the precise way she wanted. She'd dusted and gave it a modest cleaning then made her bed, stacked her bookshelf with her favorite books, put her clothing away in the closet and dresser draws, and set up the desk with her writing instruments, notebooks, and laptop.

Once she'd completed her room she went downstairs to take another look around to get a feel of the house. But when she saw the baby grand piano in the living room again she changed her mind. She took its protective cover off and flipped up the part covering the keys. She slid the bench out and sat down. She let her fingers run over the soft keys and smiled softly. She rolled her fingers over the keys and the notes were sung perfectly from the instrument. She smiled a little more and began to play one of her favorite pieces.

Vic's car pulled into the driveway and soon all four occupants got out. Dick and Kori filled their arms with the groceries while Vic and Gar got out the cot and hammock they'd bought.

"Are you seriously gonna sleep in a hammock?" Vic asked his shorter friend.

"Dude, it's the best way to sleep!" said Gar. "I love it."

"You're one of a kind, grass stain," Vic chuckled.

"Thank you so much again for buying me that lovely dress, Richard," Kori said smiling brightly, and slightly flirty.

"No problem," said Dick, blushing slightly. "It's the least I can do for you letting us stay here."

"I shall wear it tomorrow," said Kori. "I have the perfect shoes that will match!"

The four approached the house and could hear the slight sound of a piano being played. They opened the door and the music became clearer. The notes were perfect and the melody was quite enthralling. They entered the house and each looked into the living room where they spotted Raven playing away, her eyes closed as she absorbed every note. It wasn't until Gar accidentally let go of his side of the hammock box and it crashed on the floor did she realize they were home.

She jumped with surprise and whipped around to see the four of them staring at her. Her eyes were wide and she was obviously embarrassed. She quickly stood up, closed the piano, and headed back up the stairs.

"She does know it's not illegal to play the piano, right?" said Vic.

"Raven is… complicated," said Kori, taking her grocery bags into the kitchen. "She does not like the attention."

"She doesn't seem to like anything," said Dick.

"Oh, she does like certain things," said Kori. "She enjoys reading and writing and playing the piano."

"As long as no one hears her, obviously," said Vic.

"Too bad, cuz she's really good," said Gar. "Moonlight Sonata is one of my favorite pieces. I could've sworn it was a CD playing it."

"You know what she was playing?" asked Kori.

"Yeah I minored in music, actually," said Gar.

"Raven did as well!" said Kori. "What did you major in?"

"Zoology," said Gar. "Don't tell me she did too, or I'm gonna freak out."

"No, she has her degree in English, as do I, and history," said Kori.

"She did a double major?" said Dick. "That's not easy."

"You would not know that when it comes to Raven," said Kori. "She is very smart and is actually planning to go back to college again when she is finished writing her book."

"She's writing a book?" said Vic.

"Yes, that is why she agreed to rent this house with me," said Kori. "She wanted to be somewhere quiet so that she could think and write."

"I can see why having us here is making her so upset," said Vic. "We're not exactly a quiet bunch, if you hadn't noticed."

"Oh I have, do not worry," said Kori with an innocent smile.

They put the groceries away and then got to work setting up their rooms. Gar headed up to the attic with all of his things, including his new hammock. He hung it between two support beams and made sure it wasn't going to come down. He decided to leave his clothes in his suitcases, since he didn't have a proper place to put them and he was only going to throw them on the floor anyway. With his packing virtually done he headed back down.

He climbed down the ladder and arrived on the second floor. The ladder happened to be right in front of Raven's room, something he knew she probably wasn't very thrilled about. And, it just so happened, when he stepped off of the ladder her door opened. He became frozen like a deer in headlights and wasn't sure what to do. Her door hit the ladder and she peered out to see what was blocking it. She saw the ladder and the green haired man with his hands still on it. She groaned and closed her door. He quickly shoved the ladder up and then closed the door in the ceiling. Her door reopened and revealed her again. She was holding a thick notebook and a pencil in her hand.

"Uh, sorry about that," Gar said quickly and smiled in a nervous way. "Guess we're gonna have to work on our timing."

She gave him a dull stare for a moment then walked passed him without saying a word. Once she was down the stairs and out of sight he let out a breath he hadn't even been aware he'd been holding and felt relieved. He couldn't believe such a petite woman could strike such fear without even saying a word.

Raven exited the house and walked onto the beach. The sand was blistering hot so she walked at a quickened pace down to the shoreline. Once there she sat down and opened her notebook to a clean page. She paused for a moment and looked out over the horizon, taking in the sight before her. The sun was steadily descending as mid-afternoon was becoming evening and the sky was already starting to become alight with brilliant colors. It was still hot, but there was a nice breeze down by the water. The sound of waves lapping at the shore was relaxing and she finally felt a little bit of tension melt away. She picked her pencil up and began to write.

"Oh, yeah!" said Vic with excitement as he flipped through the television channels. "This place has got all the extra channels! And did you look at the system? It's all brand new!"

"Does it have surround sound?" asked Dick.

"Sure does," said Vic.

"Dudes, I'm starving," said Gar. "What do you guys wanna do about dinner?"

"I think we should get some pizza from that place we saw in town," said Dick. "I think it's too hot to cook."

"Sounds good to me," said Vic. "I'll go get it. What do you guys want?"

"Whatever," Dick shrugged.

"Veggie," said Gar, the vegetarian.

"I'll have to go ask the girls what they want," said Vic, heading for the stairs.

"Just so you know, the scary one's not in her room," said Gar.

"I think I saw her heading out to the beach," said Dick.

"Well hopefully Kori will know what she likes so I don't hafta go talk to her," said Vic. Even _he_ found the quiet girl to be intimidating. He went up to Kori's room and found the door open, so he knocked on the doorframe to get her attention. "Knock knock."

"Hello friend," Kori said with a smile as she put another shirt on a hanger.

"We're getting some pizza, you want some?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, that would be lovely," said Kori.

"What kind do you like?" he asked.

"I like all kinds," she said. "I believe they are all quite tasty."

"Okay, that makes it easy," Vic said with a smile. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know what kind of pizza your friend likes, would you?"

"She likes the cheese and that's all," said Kori.

"Cool, I'll go order them now," said Vic. "See you in a few minutes."

While Vic went to get them all pizza, Dick and Gar went out onto the beach to throw a football around to make the time pass quicker and keep their minds off of their growling stomachs. Of course, they made sure to play closer to the house than to the shore, so they didn't disturb Raven. They weren't sure what she was doing, but they weren't about to ask her.

"So, what's with you and the redhead?" asked Gar.

"What do you mean?" asked Dick.

"Come on, dude, don't play dumb," Gar laughed. "You haven't even known her half a day and you've already bought her a dress. And you're, like, the cheapest bastard I know."

"I was just trying to be nice, that's all," said Dick, blushing slightly. "I mean, if it wasn't for her we'd be back in the car driving to God knows where."

"Then what was with you sitting in the backseat with her?" asked Gar. "You've never sat anywhere but in the driver's or passenger's seat and you know it. Admit it, dude, you like her."

"Like you said, I haven't even known her for a day," said Dick. "I don't know if I like a girl unless I've known them for at least one day."

"So I bet you're hoping you do like her," said Gar with a smirk.

Dick frowned and said, "Go long." He faced towards the ocean and got ready to throw the ball. And had it not been his ball Gar wouldn't have cared, but since it was he knew he had to catch it or it'd be lost in the ocean. So he cursed under his breath and began to run, keeping his eyes on Dick.

Raven felt her hand growing tired and decided she'd written enough. That and two of those strange men living with her now were out as well and had ruined the peace and quiet. She stood up and stretched her limbs, which had fallen asleep. She tucked the pencil above her ear and began to read what she'd written while the blood rushed back into her legs and bottom.

Dick waited until Gar was a good distance away and then threw the football as hard as he could. Gar watched as the ball went into the air and slowly grew larger as it came closer to him. He began running backwards and doing his best to make sure the ball would land in his arms. And, since he was running backwards, he didn't see that he was heading straight for Raven, whose back was towards his own.

"Got it!" Gar cried out as he finally caught it. And, at that same precise moment, his back smacked into Raven's. Both let out a startled yelp as they made contact and fell. Gar fell onto his behind while Raven was pushed down onto her stomach, her notebook flying right into the saltwater. Dick watched all of this and suddenly decided he'd better get out of there, so he ran into the house as quickly as he could.

Raven lay on the wet sand and felt an incoming wave splash her face. It was then that she realized where her notebook was. She gasped and scrambled towards it, grabbing it before it was washed away. It was soaking wet and when she opened it up she saw the words that had been written, in pen and pencil, were running and becoming illegible. She looked at it in absolute shock, unable to believe what had just happened.

"Oh my God," she said, her eyes wide.

"Oh, jeez, sorry about that," said Gar, getting back onto his feet. "I couldn't see where I was going, I swear. Are you okay?"

Raven's hands began to shake with rage and her grip on the notebook tightened. "You fucking moron," she said through her teeth. She turned towards him and held up her ruined notebook. "Look what you did!"

"Uh oh, it didn't get wet, did it?" asked Gar.

"Wet? No, it's fucking soaked!" she said, waving it in front of his face. "Months and months of work ruined! The only thing that meant anything to me, gone!" She hugged the ruined notebook to her chest and started off towards the house.

A million thoughts rushed through her head as she slammed the sliding deck door and was back inside of the house. Poor Dick was in the kitchen, getting some paper plates and cups out for dinner, and quickly dropped to the ground to hide from her. She quickly headed for the stairs and angrily stomped up them. She reached her room and slammed her door behind her.

She stood there for a moment, trying to suppress her urge to scream. She took in a few deep breaths and eventually calmed down. She looked at her wet, crinkled notebook and felt tears fill her eyes. Her future depended on everything that was in that notebook, and now its contents were gone forever. What was she going to do now?


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 4

The sun had set and night had settled in. There were three empty pizza boxes in the trash as well as used plates and cups. In the living room sat Vic, Kori, and Dick, who were watching a movie that was on. Raven hadn't been seen since she'd stormed into the house earlier that evening and hadn't even eaten dinner. Kori had attempted to take her some, but when she knocked on the door was given no response. As for Gar, he was up in the attic hiding and feeling quite guilty.

'Great job, Gar,' he thought to himself. 'Make enemies with the one person even Vic doesn't wanna take a chance with.' He heard someone pulling open the door and the ladder sliding out. He looked over and said Vic's head come up first, then the rest of his body. Gar had never been so relieved. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much," said Vic with a shrug. "Goddamn! It's gotta be still in the nineties up here!"

"I know, isn't it great?" said Gar with a smile.

"I think we should look around for a small fridge for you," said Vic. "You need to have some cold water nearby if you're gonna live up here. Plus, I'd like it if you kept all of your tofu crap away from my meat."

"Hey, you get me the fridge and I'll use it," said Gar. "So what brought you up here?"

"I wanna talk about Dick and the redhead," said Vic with a smirk.

"Ah, so you saw it too, huh?" said Gar, climbing out of his hammock.

"Could it be anymore obvious?" Vic laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen him act like that around any girl before."

"And she's totally smitten," said Gar. "How the hell does he get the girls to just fall for him like that? There's gotta be some sort of trick to it."

"It's called not being a vegetarian weirdo," said Vic.

"Hey, I'm not weird," said Gar. "I'm… a little off from time to time. But, I mean, who isn't?"

"Me," said Vic. "But, back to the main topic, you think she would've let us stay here if she didn't like him?"

"You know, to be honest, I think she would," said Gar. "She seems like that kind of person. She's just lucky we're not some serial killers or rapists."

"I think that's probably why her friend didn't want us here," said Vic. "I mean, if I were in their position I…well, actually, if two cute girls showed up on the doorstep with no place to go I'd probably let them stay, too."

"And if they were serial killers or rapists then you'd look like quite an idiot," said Gar.

"Especially if two little ladies actually killed or raped me," Vic laughed. "I can't see Kori doing anything of the sort. The other one…well…only time will tell."

"Yeah, she gives me the chills," said Gar, shuddering. "I don't know how Kori can put up with her. I mean, is there anything nice about her at all?"

"I guess she's got more common sense then Kori, so she keeps her out of trouble," said Vic.

"Well hopefully Dick can do that now," said Gar with a smirk. "Who better for a nitwit to end up with than a cop?"

"I don't think she's a nitwit," said Vic. "She's just a little too innocent for her own good. But, you're right, I think she and Dick make a good combo. I wonder what her friend will do if she doesn't have to help her anymore."

"Probably go off and join a coven or something," Gar laughed. "She looks like the type, doesn't she? I bet she's got a jar in her room with a human head in it."

"You got the human head vibe from her?" asked Vic. "She kinda seems like the type that'll snap one day and go on a killing spree."

"Let's just hope she does it when the summer ends," said Gar.

"Eh, if she tried to kill us I'm pretty sure I could take her," said Vic. "She may be scary, but she's small. I could probably just pick her up by her shirt collar and let her flail about until she tired herself out." This got the two young men laughing.

Suddenly there came the sound of a door banging into the ladder that led up to the attic. They heard a few grunts and groans and then the door closing followed by the sound of someone coming up the stairs. Both watched as the very woman they were talking about appeared.

"First off, if you're not using that damn ladder then pull it up," Raven said in an even tone that bordered harsh. "Second, if you're going to talk about someone, don't do it right above their room where they can hear every word you say. And third, I don't own a head in a jar, I'm not interested in joining a coven, and I have a black belt in karate as well as five years of kickboxing. So, trust me, if I want to kill you you will be killed. Oh, and one last thing, stop referring me as 'the other one' or 'the redhead's friend'. My name is Raven." And with that she headed back down the stairs.

Both Vic and Gar felt embarrassed for being caught talking about her, but feeling far more frightened by her admission of karate and kick boxing. Her very presence was threatening and to know she was lethal as well just made her all the more intimidating. Even Vic's heart was racing from the encounter.

"Uh, I think I better go," Vic whispered, scared that she could still hear them.

"Good idea," Gar whispered back. His friend carefully got up from his seat on the floor and headed for the stairs. Vic quickly went down and then folded them back up, leaving him alone in his attic.

Raven sat back down on the window seat in her room and picked her book back up. Nothing like trying to read and hearing two guys talking badly about you right above your head. This was strike two for the green haired one. If he did one more thing she was going to nail his door shut so he couldn't come down.

She heard a knock on her door and said, "What?"

"It is I, Kori," said Kori in a sweet voice.

"I'm not taking any visitors at the moment," Raven said, her own voice cold.

"But I am not a visitor, I am your friend," Kori laughed.

"I'm not taking any persons at all," Raven replied.

"But I wish to talk to you," said Kori. She tried the doorknob and found that there was no lock on it. She opened the door and looked inside, finding her friend sitting on the window seat.

Raven frowned and said, "I've got to remember to get a door lock tomorrow." She put her book aside, once again, and went over to her desk. She took out a piece of paper and wrote herself a note.

"I had hoped you were less angry by now," said Kori, closing the door behind her.

"Well, I'm not," said Raven, going back to the window seat. "And you're not welcome in my room."

"Oh please forgive me, Raven," said Kori, sitting down across from her friend on the window seat. "I know that it was unfair of me to invite the three men to stay with us when you did not approve, but I have done it with the best of intentions."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Kori," said Raven as she picked up her book. "Your kindness is going to be the death of you. And if it isn't, then it'll surely be the death of me. I hope you can live with that on your conscience."

"Do you not think you are being overly dramatic?" asked Kori. "Just because they are staying with us does not mean you need to interact with them if you do not want to. I know that they will not bother you."

"One of them has already destroyed my notebook full of notes for my novel," said Raven. "It's the first official day of my summer vacation and the whole season's been ruined. Instead of spending it writing my book at last I'll be rethinking and rewriting my notes. And none of it would've happened had you let those three strangers go on their way and suffer for their mistake. So you can think that I'm being overly dramatic, but I think I'm actually quite calm, considering the catastrophe I've suffered today." And with that she stuck her nose into her book.

"I did not know such a thing happened," said Kori. "I am so sorry your notebook was destroyed. I am certain it could not have been on purpose. Who did it?"

"The one with the green hair," Raven replied.

"Garfield?" said Kori.

"Is that his name?" said Raven, looking over her book and arching an eyebrow. "Poor guy was doomed from the start it seems."

"Surely your summer has not been ruined," said Kori. "You are very smart and I know you will be able to write a new notebook full of notes."

Raven sighed and said, "You just don't understand. Now please leave."

Kori was going to say something else, but decided against it. She could tell that her friend was very distraught and her presence wasn't going to help the situation. She stood up and went for the door.

"I hope you have a pleasant evening," she said and then closed the door.

Raven snorted and said, "I can't see how that could be possible."

Once Kori was gone, Raven found that she no longer had an interest in reading. She closed the book with a sigh and placed it back on the shelf with its siblings. She next changed out of her clothes and put on a light pair of pajamas, since it was still very warm. Of course, she wasn't like Kori, who wore random cloth shorts and a random shirt to bed. Raven was far too organized to do something like that. She was currently in a silky pajama outfit that included pants and a short sleeved shirt. She opened her windows and let a cool breeze enter. She let out a yawn and decided she might as well go to bed, since it had been a very exhausting day.

Gar paced back and forth, unsure of what to do. He wanted to go down, but he didn't want to upset Raven by putting the ladder down. He'd already proven to have bad timing with

her, so he could just see himself putting it down at the same time she was trying to go in or out of her room. Finally he decided to just go, since he really had to go to the bathroom.

To his relief, her door never opened during the whole process. He got down and put the ladder back up into the ceiling without incident. He quickly went to the bathroom and then headed down to the living room. There he found Dick watching the late night news, like he always did.

"Hey, dude," Gar said and jumped onto the couch.

"Where've you been?" asked Dick.

"Stuck up in the attic," said Gar. "Raven kinda scared the bejesus out of Vic and me."

"Ah, so that's what was up with him," said Dick. "He ran to the basement a little while ago and I haven't seen him since. What'd you guys do to make her mad?"

"We were talking about her and it turns out she can hear everything I do cuz I'm right above her," said Gar. "She came up and told us she's a black belt and experienced kick boxer and that if she wanted to kill us she would."

"Let's just hope she doesn't," said Dick.

"You're telling me," said Gar. "Thanks to you she really hates me."

"What'd I do?" asked Dick.

"You threw me that stupid long pass that made me crash into her and ruin her notebook!" said Gar.

"Well… you should've looked where you were going," said Dick.

"I'd like to see you look where you're going when going out for a pass," said Gar. "Just know that if she kills me you're the first one I'm going to haunt."

"You know, I bet that threat would be a whole lot scarier if Raven said it," said Dick.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 5

The sun crept up into the morning sky ever so slowly. Raven stood outside and took in a long breath of the fresh air. It was cooler than it had been the day before, but it was still early and it promised to be just as hot that day. She picked up her helmet and put it on, making sure it was secure. Then she climbed onto her bike and took off for a ride, to get to know the area.

The day had barely begun and it had already been an interesting. Raven had gotten up and found that Dick was already up and drinking coffee. Upon seeing her, he quickly tried to look for a way to hide, but she assured him that he didn't need to run every time she appeared. He apologized and sat back down, though he still looked rather tense. She then went out to the deck and placed her still soggy notebook out on it to dry out. She hoped she'd be able to salvage some of her work.

The area was calm and beautiful. It being so early, there wasn't anyone on the road, so Raven swerved about. It felt nice to be in the open air, away from all of those people. She'd always liked riding her bike; it almost made her feel as if she were flying. She would often ride to the top of a tall hill just so she could glide down the other side at top speed, her eyes closed, and the air rushing passed her. She didn't let her guard down often, but when she did it was usually when she was on her bike all alone.

After riding around for a while she headed towards the town. She'd yet to see it and, from what she'd heard from everyone else, she expected it to be pretty nice. And when she arrived she saw that it was, indeed, very nice. It had just about everything they'd need to survive the summer. Well, almost everything. Raven knew she'd be asking for far too much to expect it to have a…. She nearly collided into a parking meter when it came into sight. She couldn't believe it. It actually had a library!

Back at the house, Gar was hanging out of his hammock and was still fast asleep. The attic had cooled off during the night, but was still warm. Of course warm to us was chilly to Gar, and he was curled up in his thick blanket. And, by this point, his blanket was on the floor and he was very close to joining it. It only took his arm to finally fall out for gravity to finally take hold and bring him completely out. With a thud he landed on the floor and was rudely awakened.

"Ow," he groaned into the carpet. He opened his eyes and looked around, trying to figure out what had happened. He then dizzily picked himself up, as well as his blanket, and wrapped it around himself. He closed each of his four windows and went to his suitcases to throw some clothes on, since he was only in a pair of boxers. Once he was dressed he headed down to see what his friends were up to.

Vic stood in the kitchen, already cooking breakfast, while Dick was talking to Kori at the breakfast table over a cup of coffee. He noticed that Raven wasn't present, not that he expected her to be.

"Morning, dudes," he said as he made his grand entrance down the stairs.

"Good morning, friend," said Kori. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, until I fell out of my hammock and onto my head," Gar said with a smile.

"Ah, so that's the thud we heard," said Dick.

"What's for breakfast?" Gar asked as he took a seat at the table as well.

"Bacon and eggs," said Vic with a proud smile.

"Aw, dude, you suck!" said Gar. "Why can't you make something all of us can eat?"

"Why can you not eat the breakfast Victor has prepared?" asked Kori.

"Because he's a vegetarian," said Dick. "He doesn't eat meat or straight eggs."

"Oh, I see," said Kori. "Please, why do you choose to live such a limited lifestyle, Garfield?"

"Cuz I love animals," said Gar with a shrug. "And I care about them enough not to eat them. And I don't care how much I get made fun of for it."

"Who would make fun of you?" asked Kori.

"Namely, Vic," said Gar, pointing to the man in the kitchen.

"Victor? You would not make fun of Garfield for his principles, would you?" asked Kori.

"Ah, well, I, um," sputtered Vic, suddenly feeling bad for his ruthless picking on Gar as Kori's innocent eyes bared into his soul. "Yeah, I've made fun of him once or twice, but-"

"He does it on a daily bases," said Gar. "It's his favorite pastime, other than videogames."

"That is not a very kind thing to do, Victor," Kori scolded.

"Oh he's not the only one," said Gar, with a sly look that made Dick feel very nervous.

"Why? Who else has made the fun of you?" asked Kori.

"Well Dick here has said his share of anti-veggie statements," said Gar, earning an evil look from Dick.

Kori gasped and said, "You, Richard?"

"Well, I mean, only because Vic does it," said Dick, quickly. "I don't really mean it, I swear."

"Aw, I didn't know you cared, Dick," said Gar, wrapping an arm around his friend still clad in sunglasses. Dick growled and shook the arm off. "So any idea where your frien-I mean Raven is?"

"I do not know," Kori shrugged.

"She took off a while ago on her bike," said Dick. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'd kinda like to know where she is at all times," said Gar. "Don't want her sneaking up on me, you know?"

"Understandable," said Vic as he put a plate of eggs and bacon down for everyone. "Okay, Gar, kitchen's yours."

"Awesome," said Gar, who ran into the kitchen to whip up something for breakfast. He grabbed a box of cereal, some soy milk, and soon sat back down at the table. No, not as flashy as eggs and bacon, but no animals were hurt in the making of it.

He decided to eat his breakfast out on the deck, since he always loved being outside, especially in the summer. There wasn't any table or chairs out there yet, so he decided to sit on the stairs. He made his way outside and went to sit when he saw Raven's notebook sitting there already, drying out in the sun.

As he ate his breakfast he couldn't keep his attention off of it. He knew he should do something about it, but he wasn't sure what. By the time his bowl was empty he'd made a decision. He grabbed the notebook, hid it under his shirt, and went back into the house. He put his dishes in the sink and then ran back up to the attic to stash the stolen notebook up there.

Once they'd all eaten breakfast they decided to go back into town to look around some more. Kori wanted to investigate all of the little shops they hadn't gotten to the day before while Vic and Gar wanted to find some more stuff for their rooms. As for Dick, he just wanted to casually hang around Kori. It wasn't every day a guy met a naïve European beauty who appeared to have a crush on him.

They got ready and went out to Vic's car. Just as they reached it, Raven pulled into the driveway on her bike. She coasted to a stop and dismounted. A backpack she'd brought along was now filled and looked very heavy.

"Hello Raven," Kori said warmly. "Have you had a nice bicycle ride?"

"Yes," Raven replied simply as she walked her bike passed them.

"We are off to town," said Kori. "Would you like to join us?"

"I just came from town," said Raven.

"What'd you think?" asked Dick, trying to build up his courage around her.

"It's very nice," she said evenly and rested her bike against the small shed. "I suggest you all check out the library."

"The library?" said Gar, looking as if he'd just smelled something rotten. "It's the summer! Why would we go to the library?"

Raven rolled her eyes, said, "I figured as much," and headed for the house. The others shrugged, climbed into the car, and took off. Once inside, Raven headed up to her room to sort out her purchases and borrowed books. She'd gotten five books from the library, after quickly signing up for a library card, and quickly put them into her own growing library. She'd bought a new notebook, some herbal tea, a pair of sunglasses, some sunscreen, and earplugs. She felt she was quite prepared now.

The four arrived in town and split into two groups; it's not hard to guess who went with whom. Kori practically skipped down the sidewalk and gushed as she saw many things she wished she could have. Dick was a little embarrassed to be associated with such a person, but also couldn't help but be enamored by her.

"Oh those sandals are beautiful!" she said. "I especially like the sparkles. Do you not think they are lovely, Richard?"

"Uh, yeah, they're great," said Dick, who knew nothing about clothes. "I'm sure they'd look nice on you."

"You are too kind!" said Kori, smiling widely. "Ooh, I believe I see a candy store! Let us venture forth! I am in the mood for something sweet." She grabbed Dick's hand and pulled him towards it.

Vic and Gar walked down the sidewalk looking around, but not for anything in particular. Well, Vic wasn't, anyway. Gar did need to get something, but he wasn't going to go looking for it. He knew they'd pass a store that had what he needed and he'd get it then. Till then, though, he was going to play it cool, as he always did. Well, that's what he thought.

"Hey, you know what we should do?" said Vic.

"What?" asked Gar, curiously.

"We should have a bonfire," said Vic with a smile. "You know, celebrate the beginning of summer."

"Dude, that's an awesome idea!" said Gar. "Our first house party!"

"Uh, technically, it's gonna be on the beach," Vic corrected him. "But I get what you're saying. So you in?"

"Totally!" said Gar. "But where're we gonna get wood and stuff? I mean, we need something to burn to have a bonfire."

"Eh, I'll find something," said Vic. "But, other than that, we need supplies. I'm thinking beer, smores, hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, the whole shebang!"

"Yeah! Only substitute hotdogs for tofudogs and hamburgers for veggieburgers," said Gar.

"Not in your life, seaweed," said Vic, giving his shorter friend a noogie.

Gar pulled free and said, "Seaweed? That's a new one."

"Hey, we're on the beach," Vic laughed. "I thought it was quite fitting."

"Fine, it's fitting, but that doesn't mean I like it anymore than grass stain or green bean or broccoli head or-"

"Okay, I get it!" said Vic.

A few hours later the group met up and headed back to the house. This time, Raven wasn't on the piano. They all guessed she was up in her room. Kori was quite excited about the impending bonfire, since she'd never been to one before, and decided to inform her friend.

She knocked on Raven's door and said, "Raven, may I enter?"

"What do you want?" Raven asked with a sigh from the other side of her door.

"I have some exciting news to inform you about!" said Kori.

"What is it?" asked Raven.

"We are to have a bonfire!" said Kori. "We are going to celebrate the birth of summer and our newfound friendships. You will join us, correct?"

"Sorry, I'm busy," Raven replied.

"Busy? You cannot be busy," said Kori. "Was your notebook not destroyed?"

"Yes, and now it's been stolen," she said, her voice balancing between dull and furious. "But, nonetheless, this doesn't mean my brain has suddenly turned off. I'm going to write my novel if it kills me. So no bonfire for me."

"But we would enjoy your presence," said Kori.

Raven snorted and said, "I highly doubt that."

"But we would!" said Kori. "The gentlemen would like to know you better."

"Well the feeling isn't mutual," Raven replied. "Now please go away, I'm trying to write here."

Kori pouted with a sigh and left. She went back downstairs and said, "She does not wish to join us."

"She's probably still uncomfortable with us," said Dick. "When she's gotten used to us I'm sure she'll come out of her room."

"I know Raven," said Kori. "And it will take at least a year for her to get used to anything. I am afraid we do not have that amount of time."

"Let her stay locked up there then," said Vic. "She's just punishing herself."

"And, in the meantime, let's have a party!" said Gar.

"Sounds good to me," said Vic.

"I suppose a party will make me feel better," said Kori, starting to brighten up a little.

"Now that's the spirit!" said Vic. "Come on, let's get this thing underway!"


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 6

Raven sat at her desk scribbling down in her notebook, trying to remember some of the key points she'd had in the original. The sun had set and outside on the beach a large fire blazed with four friends partying around it. Raven had quickly shut her curtains, which were paper thin and rather short, and put her earplugs in her ears so she wasn't distracted or annoyed.

"I still can't believe you found all of this driftwood!" said Gar, looking at the large fire they'd built.

"Well if you take a long enough walk down the beach you'll find just what you want," said Vic with a smile. "What do you think, Kori?"

"Oh, it is wonderful!" said Kori. "I did not know a large fire could be of excitement instead of panic and fear."

"As long as we keep it under control, we should be all set," said Dick.

Kori then sighed and said, "I still wish Raven would join us. I am sure she is capable of fun, though I've never seen her pursue it."

"I'm pretty sure her idea of fun and ours are two totally different funs," said Vic.

"Still, I would like her to attempt our fun," said Kori.

"Hey if it'll make you feel better I'll try to get her to come down," said Gar.

"Do you think you are capable of such a task?" asked Kori.

"Hey, what've I got to lose?" Gar laughed.

"Your life for one," said Vic.

"Oh yeah," said Gar, gulping. "Well…I'm gonna try anyway."

"Don't overdo it," Dick cautioned as Gar ran towards the house.

He decided it was best not to go inside, since his feet were covered with sand and they'd all agreed that if you dragged sand into the house it was your responsibility to sweep or vacuum it up, so he ran over to one of her windows. He could see her silhouette through the light curtains and could tell that she was writing. He grabbed a small pebble and threw it up at her window.

Raven felt like she was on a roll as it all came back to her. She wrote as quickly as she could, before any of it could leave her mind again. She heard a small plinking sound through her earplugs, but disregarded it. A few seconds later she heard a similar sound. This was followed by five more plinking sounds in a row. She was growing quite cross, but wasn't about to stop her writing.

And then all of a sudden her window broke, sending glass all over. She gasped and was frozen with shock. She then regained composure and frowned. She stood up and pulled her still closed curtains aside to look outside. There she saw Gar standing below, hands over his mouth with shock. She tore her earplugs out and threw them aside.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" she scolded.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" he said. "I didn't mean to break it, I swear! I just wanted to get your attention."

"Well you've succeeded, you little idiot," she growled.

"Uh, well, seeing as I've got your attention now, would you like to come down and join us?" he asked with a nervous small while scratching the back of his neck.

Raven stared at him for a moment then said, "You've got to be joking."

"No, we'd all really like to see you," said Gar.

"You've just broken my window and you expect me to hang out with you?" she said. "I don't even know you people!"

"That hasn't stopped your friend," said Gar.

"She's not my friend," Raven hissed. "She's an acquaintance, if anything. Now leave me alone." And with that she closed her curtains and went to sit on her bed.

"Come on, Raven, you can't hide from us forever!" Gar called up to her, knowing she could still hear him. "It's a great night. You shouldn't be all cooped up in your room. You should see the fire we built! Vic found a bunch of driftwood and we made it out of that. And we've got food and drinks. I bet you'll relax if you have a beer! Or, if you want, we also got stuff for shots. I mean, it's up to you. I personally don't really like either, but I think I'm gonna have a beer tonight just for the hell of it. And if you're hungry we've got hamburgers and hotdogs as well as tofu dogs and veggie burgers. I think you should try some of my food, it's way better than that cruel meat stuff. See, I don't know if you know this, but I'm a vegetarian. I have been since I was, like, five. And at this point if I ate anything made with even a little bit of meat I'd get really sick cuz my body can't process it anymore…"

Raven looked around frantically for her earplugs, but couldn't find them for the life of her. And that green haired guy outside of her window wouldn't shut up! She finally knew that she wasn't going to get any peace up here in her room. So, she grabbed her notebook, a pencil, and her little clip on reading light.

Gar saw Raven's shadow cross the room and heard her door closed. He couldn't believe it. He'd succeeded! He ran over to the door to see her when she came out. Sure enough, he saw her walking across the room to the deck door. She slid it aside and stepped out.

"Well, well, I guess you finally decided to join us," he said with a victorious smirk. She gave him a dead stare and walked right passed him towards the shed. She grabbed her bike and got on. "Hey, where're you going?" She didn't reply; she simply took off onto the dark street that was only alight by a few streetlamps.

Raven rode a good distance down the road until she came to a piece of land that didn't have a house on it. She left the street and rode across the grassy and slightly sandy terrain. Once she reached the beach she got off and walked the rest of the way to a nice spot. She then sat down, set up her notebook with the little light, and got back to work writing.

That didn't last long, though. The light from the bonfire down the beach was very distracting and, unfortunately, if she faced away from it the wind was at her back and blew her hair into her face; something that was very annoying. At this point she found that all of her thoughts were gone and she was back at square one. She sighed, turned the light off, and set the notebook aside.

"I'm not going to get anything done this summer, am I?" she said to herself.

She walked down to the water's edge and sat down so that the water just touched her feet. She laid back and looked up at the stars. It was a clear night and the stars could be seen brilliantly. She could even see a couple of planets. Mars was always easy to spot, since it had a slightly reddish glow around it. She soon found herself lost in the stars and she never wanted to be found.

"I wonder what it's like to be up there," she sighed. "To be off of this godforsaken planet and all of its people. To be in absolute silence. It must be so peaceful."

She reached her hand up and allowed her fingers to dance between the constellations. Her pale skin glowed in moonlight and she was sure she must've looked like a ghost to anyone passing by.

"I wish I could live on the moon. Then I could appreciate Earth's beauty without having to deal with any of its life forms. I'm sure I'd blend in pretty well with the moon. Pale, cold, and distant. Yup, that's me in a nutshell."

She sighed and closed her eyes. She'd spent most of her life fantasizing about being in far off places. To be in some wondrous land where she was happy; now that was a place that only existed in fairytales. Where her past had never occurred and she were not who she really was. Yes, she wanted to live in that fairytale every day.

Hours passed and she awoke the sound of the waves lapping at the shore. Unfortunately, the shore had moved since she'd fallen asleep and she was being overcome by waves. She quickly gained her bearings and crawled out of the surf. She got to her feet and realized that the sun was coming up and she was soaking wet. She looked around and, once she was sure no one was around, slip her shirt off and rung it out. She did the same to her shorts then grabbed her notebook and headed for her bike.

The ride back to the house was uncomfortable and she felt cold for the first time in many days, not to mention sandy. When she finally got back she put her bike next to the shed and took a look at the remnants of the bonfire. It was smoldering at this point and around it laid three sleeping bodies. Vic was curled up next to the cooler while Kori and Dick were curled up together. The green haired one that'd caused her the most trouble thus far was missing.

After quickly washing the sand off of her with the outdoor shower, she entered the house. She was going to take a real shower and then crawl into bed. As she walked towards the stairs she saw that Gar was sleeping on the couch. She wasn't sure why he wasn't outside with his friends, but, frankly, she didn't really care. So up the stairs she went towards her room.

She opened her door and went to place her notebook on her glass covered desk, but found that the glass was gone. To her surprise, it had all been cleared away and the window had been taped up with plastic wrap. On her desk there lay a note.

_Hey,_

_I really am sorry about breaking your window. I'll get you a new one as soon as possible._

_-Gar_

_(The one with the green hair)_

Raven couldn't believe he'd actually taken time away from the party to patch up her window for the time being. Perhaps these men weren't such animals, after all. No, they still weren't very favorable folk, of that she was sure. But she was now a little more confident that they weren't going to kill or rape her and Kori.

She took a long shower then slipped into bed, making sure to lock her door. She wasn't looking forward to approaching the one called Gar later that day to thank him for being so responsible, but it had to be done, no matter how much she hated interacting with people. But she wasn't going to think about that right now; she just wanted to sleep where she wasn't going to be nearly drowned and covered in sand.

It wasn't long before the other three who'd passed out on the beach dragged themselves inside and crawled into their own beds. Even Gar awoke and went up to his attic to sleep in his hammock. On the way he saw that Raven's door was now closed and he knew that she must've been inside, since he'd left it open after he'd cleaned up the mess he'd made. He wondered if she was still angry with him or if she even cared that he'd tried to close the hole up so bugs wouldn't get in.

No one stirred until around noon that day. Vic dragged himself into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker. He also grabbed a few aspirins for his splitting headache. He decided he'd leave breakfast to someone else, since he could barely function as it was. He just hoped that Gar didn't volunteer.

Dick was up next and looked very disheveled; something he was certainly _not_ known for. His hair was askew and he was still in his clothes from the night before. But, of course, his sunglasses still remained.

"You're looking well," said Vic.

"Likewise," said Dick. "Hangover?"

"Oh yeah," said Vic, massaging his temples. "Where's Kori?"

"In her room, I'm going to guess," said Dick. "Why?"

"Come on, man," Vic chuckled. "You think I didn't see you two last night?"

Dick blushed and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, right!" Vic laughed. "I saw you two being all cozy next to the fire."

"We were _not_ being cozy," said Dick, blushing deeper.

"And were you also _not_ making out?" asked Vic with a smirk.

Dick frowned and was beat red now. He grabbed a pan that was sitting on the stove and let it drop to the floor, making a very loud sound. Vic covered his ears and winced as the sound felt like knives in his brain.

"Ow! Man, what's wrong with you?" Vic yelled at him.

"What was that loud noise?" Kori asked tiredly as she walked down the stairs.

"Oh, uh, I accidentally dropped a pan," said Dick, smiling sheepishly.

"Are you going to make breakfast this morning?" asked Kori.

"Uh, yeah," Dick said quickly. "What would you like?"

"Do you know how to make the pancakes?" Kori asked.

"I think so," said Dick.

"Then I would like the pancakes for breakfast, please," she said with a sweet smile.

High above them, in the attic, laid the sleeping Gar. And, once again, he was awakened by falling onto the floor. This loud thud awoke Raven, whose bed was just below his. She wondered how many more things this man could do to piss her off.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 7

Two weeks had gone by and summer was officially underway. The days were long, hot, and spent doing nothing. Dick and Kori were inseparable, Vic took to long drives along the coast, Gar did this and that to keep himself busy, and Raven rarely left her room. The initial excitement of the new beach house had worn off and they'd all settled in.

Raven slowly opened her door and peaked out. Gar's ladder was up and Kori's door was open, revealing no one within. She listened intently and heard not a sound; the house was empty. She exited her room and headed downstairs after closing and locking her door. As she walked down the steps she made sure to keep her ears open, incase she'd missed some soft sound. But she still heard nothing.

Once quite certain that she was all alone she walked over to the piano. She hadn't gotten to play it since that first day two weeks before when they'd arrived. She flipped it open and sat down on the bench. She stretched her fingers out and then played a few simple chords. Once she was used to the keys, she began playing a rather complex piece.

Gar came up for air and grabbed his surfboard that had gotten away from him. He'd been waiting for waves like these since they'd arrived. But, after two hours, he was feeling tired. Not to mention that the waves were starting to die down. So he headed in.

He leaned his board up against the house and quickly doused himself in the warm water of the outdoor shower. Once all of the saltwater and sand was gone, he wrapped himself in a towel and headed inside. He walked up the deck and heard the sound of the piano being played. He looked inside and saw Raven playing. He decided that the best thing to do was to go in and pretend he didn't notice her; that's what he often did with skittish animals.

He slid the deck door aside and walked in, calmly shutting it behind him. He instantly heard the music go dead. He made sure not to look at her as he made his way towards the stairs. It wasn't until he was four steps up that he heard the notes being played once more. He smiled to himself, glad that she hadn't run away, and continued up to his room.

He quickly dried off, threw on some clothes, and decided this was the right time to give Raven a special gift he'd been working on. He knew that it wouldn't help the two of them become friends any faster, but he felt he owed it to her after the rocky start they had. So, he took in a deep breath, left his room, and headed back down the stairs.

Raven was just getting to the climax of the piece when Gar suddenly appeared next to her, leaning on the piano. She immediately picked her hands up and looked at him sternly.

"What do you want?" she asked, her cheeks slightly blushing at being caught playing.

"Well, I've got something for you," he said with a smile, hands behind his back. "But you don't have to stop playing. I really like that song."

"Do you even know what it was?" she asked.

"Duh! Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 5 in G Major," said Gar. "It's one of my favorites, actually. Anyway, you wanna see my gift?"

"Not really," said Raven. "But I suppose you're going to show it to me anyway."

"I think you're gonna like it," he said in a singsong voice. "Ready?"

"Yes, already," she said, growing very irritated and crossing her arms.

"Okay, here you are!" he said and revealed what was behind his back. He held out a rather thick, brand new notebook.

Raven looked at it and said, "And?"

"Well, look inside of it," he said, handing it to her.

Raven took it and opened it up. What she saw inside shocked her completely. She actually couldn't believe her eyes for a moment. "What is this?" she asked, feeling confused.

"Well, I kinda took your notebook and did my best to copy what you wrote into a new one," said Gar. "I mean, I couldn't get it all in there cuz it was all runny and stuff, but I did my best. The stuff that I really couldn't figure out I just left blank spaces. Not that I could figure any of it out. What language did you write it in?"

"Romanian," said Raven.

"Romanian?" said Gar. "Are you kidding me? No wonder I had no idea what I was writing."

"That's the point," Raven said with a small smile as she looked up from the notebook. "That way I wouldn't have to worry about people reading it over my shoulder while I was writing."

"Wow, Kori said you were smart but that's a little unbelievable," said Gar. "Do you know any other languages?"

"A couple," Raven said with a shrug and closed the notebook, putting it on the piano.

"Well? What are they?" he asked.

"That's none of your concern," said Raven. "Anyway, thank you very much for doing this for me. You have no idea how grateful I am."

"You're right, I don't have any idea," said Gar. "You say 'thank you' like you say everything else. I don't know how you do it."

"Years of practice," she said evenly. "But don't be fooled, I really am appreciative for this. But, then again, you're the one who ruined my notebook in the first place."

"Well I was kinda hoping you'd forgive and forget that, since I did my best to make it up to you," said Gar.

"Fine, you're forgiven and the event is forgotten," said Raven. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I haven't finished the piece."

"I still wanna know what other languages you know," said Gar.

"Like I said, that's none of your concern," said Raven.

"Oh, I see what's going on," said Gar. "You don't wanna show off. Kori told us about that, too. Well, just so you know, you're not showing off. I'm asking you to tell me. There's a difference."

"I'm aware of that," said Raven, rolling her eyes. "I just don't think you need to know what languages I'm fluent in." She placed her fingers back on the keys and began to play once more.

"Why? What do you think I'm a spy or something?" he asked.

"I doubt any spy would have green hair," said Raven. "In fact I doubt anyone with an IQ above 90 would have green hair."

Gar frowned and said, "Scoot over."

"Excuse me?" she said as the man suddenly sat on the edge of the bench and pushed her over. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm gonna show you that someone with green hair can be smart," he said, cracking his knuckles. Unbeknownst to his friends, he was actually pretty good on the piano. "Do you know Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor?"

"Yes," said Raven. "Do you?"

Gar smirked and set his fingers on the keys. Raven narrowed her eyes, but did the same as him. Gar tapped his foot to set the pace and after the third tap the two began to play.

Within a minute of playing Raven was astounded. He was playing perfectly! Hell, he was almost as good as she was. But, for how long? She decided to test him. If he wanted to prove himself to her then let the exam begin.

"You're pretty good," she said. "But what about this?" She easily blended her notes into a new piece; Academic Festival Overture.

"Ah, so we're gonna play this game, huh?" he said with a sly grin. He quickly began playing the accompanying notes to it.

"Hmm, not bad," said Raven. "But try this." She blended into, yet, another piece; Symphony No. 4 in E minor.

"Ooh, interesting," said Gar. "But nothing I can't handle." And, again, he jumped right in.

"Interesting?" said Raven. "I'll tell you what, you keep up with me on this next one I'll tell you what other languages I know."

"Bring it on," said Gar.

Raven nodded and instantly began playing 3. Rondo: Allegro Non Troppo. Gar had to admit, he'd only played this piece a couple times and wasn't sure he could keep up. He just did his best to remember the notes and play them as quickly as he could. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to make sure he hit the right keys, and he felt he was getting too overwhelmed. Raven couldn't help but notice. She was going to win.

"Whoa! Get a load of this!" came Vic's booming voice as he and the other two reentered the house. Both Gar and Raven's hands froze and their heads spun around to see the three of them standing there.

"Please, do not stop!" said Kori with a large smile. "You were playing divinely."

"Why thank you," said Gar with a grin. "We are pretty good, aren't we?" He turned towards Raven who suddenly looked very vexed. "Uh… aren't we?"

She quickly stood up and did her best to maintain her composure. "English, German, Latin, Romanian, Ancient Sumerian, and Sanskrit."

"Huh?" asked Gar, confused.

"Those are the languages I know fluently," she said. And with that, she grabbed her new notebook and ran upstairs.

"Uh…what just happened?" asked Vic.

"Great, you've scared her away!" said Gar.

"Hey, we didn't know we were gonna walk into you two being all friendly on the piano," said Vic, defensively. "Which you've never said you could play."

"Well you've never asked if I could," Gar shrugged.

"How did you get Raven to play with you?" Kori asked.

"Long story," said Gar. "She challenged my intelligence so I was gonna prove that I was smart."

"She sure looked comfortable playing with you," said Dick, who never missed anything. "Maybe she's starting to soften up a little."

"Oh, I hope so," said Kori. "That would be most wonderful!"

"Mind telling me why she told you all of the languages she knew?" asked Vic.

"She said that if I could keep up with her on that last piece then she'd tell me," said Gar. "Did you know she writes in Romanian?"

"Really? Wow, that's intense," said Vic. "How smart did you say she was again, Kori?"

"Very," said Kori. "She graduated valedictorian in both of her majors. That is why she is going to go back to college; they are allowing her to attend for free."

"Aw, I wish I could've gone to school for free," Gar pouted.

"Maybe if you got straight A's instead of straight C's you might've," said Dick.

"Shut up!" said Gar. "I had a few Bs, too, you know."

"Too bad they were always in your extra curriculum activities," said Vic.

"Hey they count," said Gar.

"So what's Raven going back to college for?" Dick asked, trying to steer the conversation back to where it began.

"I believe she is going to get her Master's degree in English," said Kori. "And then her Doctorate."

"Wow she's not kidding around, is she," said Vic. "That girl better pace herself or she'll miss the best years of her life."

"I have a feeling she wishes to pass through her life as quickly as she can," Kori sighed.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 8

Ever since Raven received the new notebook from Gar she hadn't left her room. She was too busy filling in the missing pieces and quickly transferring all of the information into her laptop, lest it get destroyed again. She wasn't taking any chances this time. And, to her relief, no one was bothering her.

She looked out her window and saw everyone was out on the beach. Kori was lying out in the sun on a towel where the men were throwing a Frisbee back and forth. She watched as Vic threw it towards Gar, but it curved and headed for the water. The green haired man dove and caught the Frisbee, but he also dove straight into the water. She saw him drag himself out of the water and begin yelling and pointing at Vic. He didn't seem to care and just laughed, which was what Dick was doing as well. She watched as Gar pounced on Vic and soon the two were in a brawl. They worked their way right over to Dick and, before he knew it, he was involved as well. Raven shook her head and looked away from the window.

She pushed herself away from her desk for a moment and stretched. Her eyes were growing tired from staring at her laptop screen for so long, so she rubbed them. She decided now would be a good time for a break. She saved everything, closed the computer, and stood up. It felt good to completely straighten her back and her behind began to get some feeling back into it.

"I think I should take more breaks," she said to herself. "If I keep this up I'm sure I'll have some sort of permanent damage."

She grabbed her backpack and decided to go for a bike ride to get some exercise. She might not have been one to eat much, but if she didn't exercise she'd lose the nice muscle tone she'd created. She just hoped no one would bother her as she left.

She headed downstairs and then straight for the door. She quickly exited the house, set her sights on her bike, and went right for it. If she let her eyes wander she might see one of her roommates and then God knows what would happen. As she laid her hands on the bike handles she was sure she was home free. And then her worst fear came true.

"Hey, you're out of your room!" said Gar, running over to her.

"I could've sworn a moment ago you were in a brawl with your friends," she said, frowning at being caught.

"Ooh, you were spying on us?" he said with a smirk. "You should just come and join us if you wanna know what we're doing."

"I wasn't spying, I happened to look out the window and saw the events of the moment," said Raven, putting her helmet on.

"So, where're you heading off to?" he asked.

"None of your business," she said with a sigh and began walking her bike down the driveway.

"Aw, come on," he said, following after her. "Why can't I know?"

"Why do you _want_ to know?" she asked. "Can't I do anything without you enquiring as to why I'm doing it?"

"Hey, I'm just curious," said Gar, putting up his hands innocently. "You don't really do much so when you do do something I can't help but wanna know what it is."

"Curiosity killed the cat," she said plainly.

"Okay, how about this, what if you go missing and we don't know where you are?" he said. "Don't you think you should let us know for safety reasons?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake," she huffed. "I'm just going for a ride and nothing more. Happy?"

"That sounds boring," he said. "You should go to town and walk around."

"I can do without your opinion," she said.

"It was a suggestion," he said.

"Whatever you want to call it, I can do without it," said Raven, getting on to the bicycle.

"Hey, what's with the cold attitude?" he asked. "We were getting on really well when we were playing the piano. I thought we'd at least be passed the whole 'I'm a cold witch' thing."

"I hate to tell you this, but there is no 'we'," said Raven. "There's you, there's me, but there is no we."

"Ha! You just rhymed!" he laughed, thoroughly amused.

She looked at him as if he were the biggest idiot on the planet. "Anyway, this is just who I am," she continued. "Deal with it." And with that she took off, pedaling down the road. The farther she got the more relieved she felt. That is, until she heard quick footsteps next to her.

"Well maybe I don't wanna deal with it," said Gar, jogging next to her.

"Do I have to get a restraining order?" she snapped.

"Come on, you wouldn't do that," he said.

"You know all I have to do is call the police and say that you're trespassing and they'll take you away," said Raven. "Technically the house belongs to myself and Kori, so quit annoying me or you'll be on the street."

"Technically, I'm on the street right now," he said with a smile.

She growled and peddled even faster. Gar saw her pulling ahead, so he quickened his pace to keep up with her. At this point, he wasn't sure why he was following her, but it sure was fun! He especially liked the ticked off look on Raven's face each time she turned around and saw him still next to her.

"Just to let you know, I ran track," he said as he ran beside her.

"Just to let you know, I don't care," said Raven and quickly took a turn onto another street. To her luck, the street dipped down steeply, giving her a nice lead on the man following her.

Poor Gar started down the hill but eventually had to stop when he thought he was going to trip and tumble down the rest of the way. Once he came to a stop he watched her fade away in the distance and attempted to catch his breath. It was then that he realized that he'd been running without any shoes on that entire time. He looked down and saw that they were scratched up pretty bad. He moaned and slowly began to walk back to the house on the sides of his feet, which were still pretty intact.

Raven looked behind her one last time and saw that the green haired man was finally gone. She breathed a sigh of relief and slowed her peddling. This was the first time in her entire life that a man had ever chased after her in any way, shape, or form. And, she had to say, she didn't really like it. How Kori could put up with it was a mystery to her.

After a long and very painful walk back home, Gar sat down on the couch with his feet in a large bowl of cool water. Yes, it stung, but it was the only relief he could get at the moment. Once they'd soaked for a little while he was going to bandage them up and put some socks on. He cursed himself for being so stupid.

"Why'd you chase after her in the first place?" asked Vic.

"I dunno," Gar shrugged. "I guess I wasn't done talking so I followed after her."

"And you didn't realize you weren't wearing any shoes?" asked Vic.

"Not until it was too late," Gar sighed and looked down at his pavement burned feet.

"You should have known better than to approach her when she was attempting to leave unnoticed," said Kori.

"It takes him a while to learn anything," said Dick.

"Hey!" said Gar. "I was just trying to be friendly with her, that's all."

"And look where that got you," said Dick, pointing to his friend's feet.

"I don't see any of you trying to befriend her," said Gar, crossing his arms and settling into the couch. "You all just let her stay locked up in her room all day and not even try to say hello."

"That is how Raven prefers it," said Kori. "It may not be…normal, but it is how she functions. I do not think she knows any other way."

"I don't think she'd feel comfortable any other way," Vic added.

"How can she expect to function in the real world if she can't even talk to people?" asked Gar.

"I don't think she plans on interacting with people much," said Dick. "Why else would she plan on writing for a living?"

"I can't imagine wanting to be alone all of the time," Gar shuddered. "I'd probably go insane."

A little while later Gar was still on the couch, his feet now bandaged and in socks, and he heard the front door open. He turned and saw Raven entering. Of course, she made sure not to look anywhere in particular so she wouldn't accidentally make eye contact with anyone and have to interact with them. And, of course, this didn't stop Gar from addressing her anyway.

"Hey, you're back," he said.

"Yes," she said simply and headed for the stairs.

"Did you have a nice ride?" he asked.

"Yes," she said again and continued on her way.

"If you're wondering why I'm on the couch it's cuz I hurt my feet chasing after you," he said.

"Good for you," she said, obviously not listening or caring to him, and went up the stairs.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later then!" he called after her.

Raven closed her door and leaned up against it. This man was so damn annoying! Couldn't he leave her alone? She took her backpack off and put it on her bed. She took out a few seashells she'd found and liked, a new pack of pencils, a new pack of earplugs, and a half drunk bottle of water. She grabbed the water and pencils then went to her desk to get back to work. She hadn't been sitting four seconds when she heard a knock on her door.

"What?" she asked shortly.

"It is Kori, may I enter?" came the voice behind the door.

Raven sighed and said, "Fine."

The door opened and the redhead entered, smiling as usually. "I see you are back from your bicycle ride," Kori noted. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"I did once I got rid of that annoyance named Gar," said Raven. "I don't know what's wrong with him, but something's not quite right in his brain."

"He just wants to be your friend," said Kori. "His intentions are only good. Perhaps you should allow him to be friends with you."

"If I were going to have a friend, it certainly wouldn't be someone like him," said Raven. "Now why are you here?"

"I simply wanted to inform you that we are planning on having a fourth of July celebration when the holiday comes in a few weeks," said Kori with a large smile. "We are going to invite all of our friends so it shall be a large party!"

"Great," said Raven, sarcastically. "Maybe I can rent a hotel room that day."

"But do you not want to see all our friends from school?" Kori asked.

"First of all, they're _your_ friends," said Raven. "And second, no."

"But it will be spectacular!" said Kori. "We are going to get the fireworks and build another bonfire and we will not go to bed until the sun rises! Please consider attending."

"If I say I'll consider it will you stop screaming about it?" asked Raven.

"Oh, yes," said Kori, nodding.

"Find, I'll consider it," said Raven. "Anything else?"

"No, I believe that is all," said Kori.

"Great, then if you'll excuse me I need to get back to work," said Raven, opening her laptop and getting her notebook out."

"Okay, I shall talk to you again soon," said Kori and with that she left.

Once she was gone, Raven quickly locked her door and put her new earplugs in her ears. She wasn't going to be interrupted anymore; she refused! She sat back down and finally got back to work. She was going to finish this book by summer's end if it killed her.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 9

A few days later Gar's feet had healed and he was walking around again. Everyone was quite happy for this, since all he did was complain while they were all bandaged up. Now that he was of use again, he was outside mowing the yard. They didn't technically have a backyard, since it was sand, which cut usual mowing time by half.

He walked up and down along the lawn with the old mower. Yes, they had a gas powered one, but Gar refused to use it and wouldn't let anyone else use it either. He said it created too much pollution. So he went into town and was lucky enough to find an old push mower. Needless to say, Gar was put in charge of mowing.

The front door opened and out came Dick, holding a tall glass of cold lemonade. "Hey, Gar," he said, getting the green headed man's attention. "Time for a break."

"Aw, you made me lemonade?" Gar laughed.

"Shut up," said Dick, handing the glass over. "Kori made it for you."

"Ah," said Gar and he took a sip. His face instantly puckered and he spat it back out. "Oh my God! That's the sourest thing I've ever tasted! Didn't she put any sugar in this?"

"She said that this is how she likes it," Dick shrugged.

"You knew that this was pure lemon juice and you gave it to me anyway?" asked Gar. Dick only smirked. "You asshole!"

And with that, Gar lunged at Dick and the two began to wrestle on the partially mowed lawn. Within thirty seconds Dick had Gar in a position he couldn't move from and won the brawl.

"You should know not to take me on in a fight by now," said Dick, picking the grass clippings off of his shirt.

"Yeah yeah," said Gar, doing the same. "But, know this, you have to sleep at some point."

"That's why I have a lock on my door," said Dick. "I know how you love to booby-trap our rooms for fun."

"Yeah, that's true," said Gar. "But I happen to know that you don't always spend the night in your room."

Dick went a little pale and said, "What're you talking about? Of course I do."

"Oh, I'd have to disagree," said Gar with a smirk. "You see, my dear Dick, I live above the entire second floor, including Kori's room." Dick knew he was in trouble now. "And I can hear everything that goes on below me. That includes music, talking, moaning, the gasping of a lover's name..."

"Alright, I get it!" said Dick, thoroughly embarrassed at this point.

Gar smiled and said, "Just remember, dude, Vic loves blackmail like this."

Dick frowned and headed back into the house. Kori was still in the kitchen, sipping some of her lemonade. She smiled upon seeing him.

"Did Garfield enjoy his lemonade?" she asked.

"Kori, we're not going to your room anymore," said Dick.

"Oh?" she said. "Why not?"

"Just, trust me, it'd be best if we went to my room," said Dick. He knew if she found out Gar had been hearing them she'd be horribly embarrassed.

Gar got a drink from the hose, to both quench his thirst and to get the sour taste out of his mouth, and got back to mowing. He felt quite good knowing he'd finally gotten some decent dirt on Mr. Richard Grayson. He just finished another section of the lawn when Vic pulled in. He got out of his beloved car and grabbed two bags of groceries in the backseat.

"Wow, I can't believe you're actually doing something useful!" Vic laughed.

"Hey, we've all gotta pull our weight, right?" Gar chuckled.

"Just make sure you don't get heat exhausted," said Vic. "It's pretty damn hot out here."

"Eh, don't worry about me," said Gar. "Like I've said before, I love the heat."

"Yeah, but the heat can only love you so much before it kills ya," said Vic.

"That's true," said Gar, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "Hey, did you get me some soy milk?"

"Yeah, I got your damn soy milk," said Vic. "And another bag of mixed salad."

"Awesome," said Gar. "I'm already starving."

"Well get back to work," said Vic. "I want you nice and tired for game station tonight."

"Heh, getting scared I'm getting better?" Gar said proudly.

"No, I just love how shitty you play when you're exhausted," Vic said with a smirk and then headed inside.

Raven closed her book and stretched her back out. She got off of the window seat and placed the book back into its place on the shelf. She'd been working on her novel nonstop and had decided to take some time off to read. Now she was going to go to the bathroom and then get back to work.

When she finished she washed her hands and looked out the window, which looked out over the front of the house. She saw Gar outside mowing the lawn, something even she was surprised about. He didn't seem the type to do anything chore related. She watched as he paused and lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his face. And then he took his shirt off altogether. She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't impressed by his body. He was lean but definitely not scrawny. In fact, she had to admit, standing there in the sunlight with the sweat glistening off of his body he actually looked kind of ho-.

She jumped away from the window, shocked by her own thoughts. No, absolutely not. She did _not_ just allow her mind to consider the embodiment of annoyance attractive. Damn it, what was wrong with her? Here she'd spent a good portion of her life suppressing any natural feelings and this man had already infected her mind. Who the hell did he think he was? She suddenly felt very angry, stormed out of the bathroom, and back into her room.

Within the hour Gar finally finished the lawn and was ready for a break. Once he put the mower away he sprinted towards the ocean and dove in, shorts and all. The water was just perfect and cooled him off instantly.

"Ah, this is the life," he said as he floated on his back. Of course, a wave soon came and nearly drowned him. He quickly crawled out of the water and decided he was cool enough. Unfortunately, he now realized that he had nothing to dry off with. He'd have to call for help.

He walked up to the house and yelled, "Hey, I need a towel!" He waited for a few seconds and then called out again. "Hey, can anyone hear me?" He waited again and still didn't receive an answer. He groaned and began to walk around the house, calling out for assistance. "Jeez, I'm gonna be dry by the time someone hears me," he grumbled to himself. "I know you're all in there! Come on, I just need a towel! Is that too much to ask for?"

"What the hell are you screaming about?" snapped Raven, sticking her head out of her non-broken window. Gar still hadn't replaced the glass he'd broken.

"Oh, Raven, thank God," he said, glad that someone finally heard him. "Could you get me a towel?"

"Why don't you just come in and get one yourself?" she asked, doing her best to avert her eyes from his body without looking like she was.

"Cuz if I do that then I'll track water and sand in and I don't wanna clean the floor again," said Gar. "So could you get me a towel? Please?"

Raven sighed and said, "Fine. Go to the deck and I'll hand you one."

"Yes! You rock!" he said and ran off towards the back of the house.

Raven felt very angry now, though she knew she really had no reason to. He really hadn't done anything wrong, other than being ill prepared, but she just wanted him to give her a reason to scream at him. She knew that it was because she was still flustered about the thoughts that had crossed her mind when she'd seen him an hour earlier without his shirt on. And, since he still wasn't wearing one, she knew she'd have to do her best to keep herself composed.

She arrived at the glass sliding door and saw him standing on the deck, smiling that stupid smile of his. She frowned and slid the door aside. "Here you go," she said and threw him the towel. Once it had left her hand, she'd immediately turned around and headed back towards the stairs.

"Awesome, thanks," he called after her and began to dry himself off.

"Whatever," she muttered.

Gar noticed that her attitude seemed a little colder than usual, but when he saw Vic entering the kitchen from the basement he forgot all about her. "Hey!" he said.

"What?" asked Vic.

"I've been screaming out there for help!" said Gar.

"Why? What happened?" asked Vic.

"I needed a towel," said Gar.

"Well, sorry, but I can't hear anything when I'm down there," said Vic.

Gar sighed and said, "Well, where's Dick and Kori then?"

"Probably in one of their rooms," said Vic.

Gar growled and finished drying himself off and cleaning his sandy feet. "I swear, if they're fooling around I'm gonna burst in on them and scar them for life," he said.

"You'll probably end up scarred for life, too," said Vic.

"Not if I keep my eyes shut," said Gar. "I'll just throw the door open, scream, and shut it again. That'll scare the hell outta of them."

"Gar, let it go," said Vic. "Just cuz you're not getting any doesn't mean you should freak out on them."

"Look who's talking!" said Gar. "You're not getting any either."

"Yeah, but that's cuz I'm taking the summer off from girls," said Vic.

"And who says I'm not?" said Gar.

"You haven't had a girl in a year and a half," Vic laughed. "If you don't want a girl by now then I think you should come out of the closet and give the guys around the beach a chance."

"I'm not gay, I've just got high standards," said Gar.

"Man, I don't even wanna get into what's wrong with that little statement," said Vic. "Just leave Dick and Kori alone, okay?"

"Fine," Gar grumbled. "But this is strike two for them. One more and I'm gonna destroy this little fairytale they're living in."

"Strike two? What was the first strike?" asked Vic.

"You don't wanna know," said Gar, wanting to keep that piece of information in his back pocket for a while. "Well if you need me I'll be up in my room."

Raven sat on her bed with a small notebook that she'd had for years. Inside were the rules that she lived by. Rules she'd written long ago. Rules that she'd created to make sure she lived a life without pain of any sort. And whenever she broke one of these rules she would read them over and over again to punish herself.

Rule 10: Don't flaunt your talents

Rule 9: Friends are only enemies in the making so don't have any

Rule 8: Never rely on anyone but yourself

Rule 7: Don't care about what people think of you

Rule 6: Don't draw any attention to yourself for any reason

Rule 5: Keep quiet and only speak up when it's absolutely necessary

Rule 4: Don't let your intelligence go to waste

Rule 3: Only help those who don't have the means to help themselves

Rule 2: Don't ever think about the past

Rule 1: Feelings and emotions are pointless, do not surrender to them

She read them over and over again. She was furious with herself for breaking so many of the rules. Lately she'd been showing her anger, raising her voice, flaunting her talents, and allowing strange feelings to cross her mind. Had she forgotten why she'd made this list? She needed to live by these rules or she'd lose control of her entire life.

Gar reached up and opened the door in the ceiling, allowing the ladder to unfold. As he finished setting the ladder up he could hear soft talking. He paused and listened a little harder. It was coming from Ravens room. He squeezed himself around the ladder and pressed his ear up to her door.

"Feelings and emotions are pointless, do not surrender to them," he heard her say again and again.

"What the hell's that about?" he said to himself. He squeezed back around the ladder and headed up to the attic. "She sure is weird."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 10

The fourth of July was only a week away and they were already starting to prepare. Lists were being made and all the occupants of the house were doing their part to make sure it was one of the best parties ever. They each had a different job. Vic was in charge of the food, Kori was in charge of decorations, Dick was in charge of fireworks and bonfire wood, and Gar was in charge of all the other needed supplies. As for Raven, she had already made arrangements at a local hotel for that particular day.

"Why do we have to store all of this stuff up in my room again?" asked Gar as he and Vic carried a few boxes of paper plates and plastic utensils up the stairs.

"Cuz there's nowhere else to put it," said Vic. "Besides, you've got plenty of room up there."

"I know, but do you have any idea how hard it's gonna be to get all of this stuff up that ladder?" said Gar.

"Eh, we'll figure something out," said Vic.

Gar pulled the door in the ceiling open and took the ladder down. He then put his box under one arm and used the other arm to climb up. Once he was up Vic handed him the next box.

"See? That wasn't hard," said Vic. "Come on, let's get the rest." Gar climbed down and the two headed back out to the car where all of the supplies they'd just bought were.

Now, normally, Gar would never leave the ladder down but since he was going to be using it again and it would be cumbersome to take it down all over again he left it as it was. Unfortunately, as soon as he and Vic were down the stairs Raven decided to take a tea break. And so the setting was laid for what was to be the worst fight up until that point.

Raven's door slowly opened and, of course, smacked right into the ladder. She groaned and said, "Gar, are you done with this ladder?" When there came no response she grew very annoyed.

She slowly began to squeeze herself through the small opening between the ladder and her door. As she did she could feel the lock of the door scratching her. This only fueled her growing anger. She made it all the way through and closed the door behind her. She then turned, misjudged how close the ladder was, and smacked her forehead right into one of the steps. She grabbed what was sure to be a bad bruise and growled with frustration.

It was just then that Vic and Gar made it back up the stairs with more boxes. They were talking and laughing until they saw Raven behind the ladder, holding her head. Gar immediately got a bad feeling in his gut.

"Oh shoot, talk about bad timing, right?" he laughed, hoping to lighten up her darkening stare.

"Why the hell is this down?" she snapped.

"We're putting our fourth of July stuff up there," said Vic.

"You didn't hear us a minute ago?" Gar asked.

"I wear earplugs so I don't have to hear you," said Raven. "And you couldn't put the ladder back up while you were getting more of your stupid supplies?"

"We're just going from the car to here so it seemed unnecessary to put it back up when all I'm gonna do is take it back down," said Gar. "Are you okay? You're holding your head funny."

"No, I'm not okay," she said. "I scratched my stomach squeezing through my door and then hit my head on your fucking ladder!"

"You couldn't wait a minute for us to come back?" said Gar. "What the hell's so urgent you had to get out of your room so badly?"

"I live on a strict time schedule," said Raven. "And right now is my tea break, which I'll probably have to rush through now."

"Why the hell are you living on a schedule?" said Gar. "It's the summer! You're on vacation! God, you're so uptight."

"I'd rather be uptight then a lazy moron!" said Raven.

"Don't call me a moron!" Gar said back, growing angry.

"Okay, come on you two, break it up," said Vic.

"You stay out of this," the two said at the same time. Vic immediately backed away and ran down the stairs. The tension that had been building between the two of them was finally about to snap and he didn't want to be anywhere near the chaos that was about to occur.

"You don't know me so how dare you keep calling me stupid?" said Gar.

"I just go by what I see," said Raven. "And you don't come across as the intellectual type, just so you know."

"Oh yeah?" said Gar. "Well you look like a cold bitch and you really are a cold bitch!"

"Do you think I care?" said Raven. "Unlike you, I don't give a damn about what people think of me."

"Well maybe you should!" said Gar. "You're probably the most unlikable person I've ever met! How the hell do you expect to get through life being so negative? You make a big deal about every little damn thing!"

"I don't have to listen to this," said Raven, moving around the ladder that she'd been stuck behind. "If you want to judge me then you go right ahead." She pushed right passed him.

"I'm not judging you!" he said. "I'm just telling you the facts! You think I'm the only one who thinks you're a cold, negative, creepy, bitch? I bet if we took a poll everyone would agree with me!"

"Like I said, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks," she said, going down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" he asked, following after her.

"None of your business you asshole," she said, walking as quickly as she could. "This conversation is over."

"Oh no, this isn't over just because you say it is," said Gar. "I'm sick of always doing things by your rules! I have to walk on eggshells just because of you! This isn't how I expected to spend my vacation."

"And you think this is how I planned on spending mine?" she snapped back. "_You_'ve ruined _my_ summer, not the other way around."

"Hey, I didn't screw up the arrangements, I didn't just move myself in," he said. "You can blame Dick and Kori for that."

"Oh trust me, I do," said Raven. "But the fact is you're still not supposed to be here. So if you're having a lousy time it sure as hell isn't my fault!"

"Of course it is!" said Gar. "I've always gotta be quiet, I've always gotta stay out of your way, and I've always gotta be afraid cuz if I do something wrong then you'll yell at me!"

"I really couldn't care less about what you do," said Raven. "All I've asked is that you leave me alone! And you sure as hell can't do that!" She reached the door and threw it open, quickly exiting through it.

"Well excuse me for trying to be your friend," said Gar as he followed her out of the house. "God knows that if you had a friend suddenly you'd become stupid."

"I live a solitary life for a reason!" said Raven, going over to the shed where her bike was. "And I don't expect someone like you to even comprehend why that is."

"And she makes yet another joke about me being stupid!" he screamed up to the sky. "Well, you know what? I'd rather be stupid with a bunch of friends then 'smart' and alone. And I think only a dumb ass would think it's supposed to be the other way around."

"So what am I, Gar, a dumb ass or a cold, negative, bitch?" Raven asked as she grabbed her bike and began to walk it down the driveway.

"How about all of the above?" he asked.

"Well like I've said before, you can judge me all you want but in the end I don't really care," she said, climbing onto her bike and getting ready to take off.

Gar grabbed her handlebars and got right in front of her, blocking her from going anywhere. "That's bullshit!" he said. "There's no way you don't care what people think about you! If it was true then you wouldn't hide yourself away all of the time! You're scared of what people think about you!"

Raven frowned and said, "Get out of my way."

Gar frowned as well and said, "No."

They stared each other down for what seemed hours. Neither was willing to submit and let the other win. Raven wanted to prove him wrong and Gar wanted to prove to her that he wasn't scared of her anymore.

"I'm going to tell you one more time," Raven said through her teeth. "Get out of my way."

"And what if I don't?" he asked.

"You're going to be very sorry," she said simply.

Finally the other three couldn't take it anymore. Vic had alerted Dick and Kori about what was going on and they'd been watching from a safe distance up until now. But they knew things were about to get very bad because Gar was too stubborn to back down and Raven was too proud.

"Alright, that's enough," said Dick.

"Please, cease your bickering," pleaded Kori.

"Yeah, we don't need any bloodshed," said Vic.

Vic put his hands on Gar's shoulders and slowly began to pull him away. He certainly resisted, but Vic was much stronger than Gar and soon he gave up and allowed himself to be removed from where he'd planted himself. As soon as he was out of the way Raven took off as quickly as she could.

"Yeah, go ahead, run away!" Gar screamed after her. "And don't come back! It'll be the highlight of the summer!"

"Gar cut it out," scolded Dick.

"Why? I'm just saying what we're all thinking!" said Gar.

"I am not thinking that at all," said Kori. "I am thinking that perhaps you should go sit down and do the cooling off."

"And maybe you should all mind your own business!" said Gar who then stormed off into the house. He made the long journey up to the attic and locked the door so that he couldn't be bothered. He then climbed into his hammock and lay there to calm down.

Vic sighed and said, "What're we going to do about those two?"

"Try to keep them apart as much as we can," said Dick. "What else can we do?"

"I told him not to bother her," said Kori. "Why could he not listen?"

"Well, on Gar's behalf, she was the one who started this particular fight," said Vic. "She kinda blew up over nothing, really."

"Raven does not need much to do the blowing up," Kori sighed. "But I have never seen her so tense before or so angry for so long."

"Well maybe you should talk to her," said Dick. "Something might be wrong, for all we know."

"I will talk to her but not today," said Kori. "I shall give her some time to calm down."

"Good idea," said Vic. "Gar will probably be fine in an hour or two. But, man, I've never seen him talk like that to a woman before. I guess even he has a breaking point, though."

"Vic, maybe you should take the attic and give Gar the basement," said Dick. "Just so they don't have to cross paths."

"I'm not gonna live up in the attic!" said Vic. "It's hot as hell up there! Kori, why don't you switch rooms with Raven?"

"I do not think she will approve," said Kori. "She is very fond of her bedroom."

"Well, we'll figure something out," said Dick. "We certainly can't go on living like this."

"Agreed," said Vic and Kori.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 11

Night had fallen and it was dark out. This meant it was very late, considering it was summer and it didn't get dark until around nine. By now Gar had cooled off and was out of the attic. As for Raven, she still hadn't returned. And they were all growing more and more worried.

"I hope she didn't really take me seriously when I told her not to come back," said Gar. He already felt guilty about the fight and was nervous as hell that she wasn't back yet. He was the sort who felt guilty very easily.

"I doubt she wouldn't come back just because you told her not to," said Vic.

"That's true," said Gar.

"Oh, should we not go look for her?" asked Kori. "I am very concerned that she is not well."

"She's probably on her way home right now," said Dick.

"But what if she is not?" asked Kori.

"Kori, you're getting me even more nervous!" said Gar.

"Okay if she's not back in fifteen minutes then we'll go look for her," said Dick.

Suddenly there came a knock at the front door. They each looked at each other with a questioning look. They were pretty sure Raven wouldn't knock to enter her own home, so who could it be? They didn't really know anyone yet. They all made their way to the door and Vic opened it.

"Good evening," said a police officer.

"Oh, she is dead!" Kori exclaimed and fell to her knees. The three men had similar thoughts rushing through their heads.

"No, no, don't worry!" said the officer quickly. "No one's dead."

"Oh thank God," said Gar.

"I was just giving your roommate a ride home from the hospital," said the officer.

"Hospital?" all four said. The officer stepped aside and revealed Raven coming up to the house on a pair of crutches, her ankle in a cast.

"Thanks for the ride," Raven said. As she came closer they could also see that she was a bit scratched and bruised up.

"No problem, just be careful with that ankle," said the officer who then left.

"What happened?" asked Vic, opening the door wider so she could come inside.

"I was hit at a stop sign," she said, hopping inside with her crutches. "Some inexperienced teen was busy looking through his CDs and failed to notice the sign and myself all together."

"How's your bike?" asked Dick.

"A ball of metal," said Raven. "He ran into me from behind then pushed me into a telephone pole. I ended up falling off and getting tangled in my bicycle. They needed to cut part of it up just to get my leg out."

"Oh, how injured are you?" asked Kori.

"I snapped my ankle," said Raven. "I'll be in this cast for a few weeks."

"That sucks," said Dick. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I'll be fine," said Raven, slowly but surely going through the house towards the stairs. "And if anyone says anything along the lines of 'karma' I'll kill them with my good leg." It was quite clear that this statement was directed at Gar. She made it to the stairs and put her crutches up against the wall. She figured she could leave them down here and hop around upstairs. She grabbed onto the handrails on either side of the stairway and began to hop up the stairs one by one.

Knowing that Raven was safe and at home, everyone felt much better. And now Gar felt even guiltier than he had before. Yes, Raven was alive, but his ill wishes upon her had caused her to get in an accident and break her ankle. He had to apologize. He knew he shouldn't expect one from her in return, but if he didn't say that he was sorry he wouldn't feel right.

He headed up the stairs and went to her room. He knew she wasn't going to be in the best of moods, but he was used to that. He took in a big breath and knocked on her door.

"Unless you're a time machine that can take me back to a few hours ago when I could still walk and had a bike, go away!" she said.

"Raven, it's Gar," he said. "Look, I know you're probably still really mad at me and blame me for your broken ankle, so I just wanted to say I'm sorry for fighting with you. I think I really blew it out of proportion and that just made you even angrier." He paused for a moment and tried to think of how he could wrap this up without repeating himself.

"Get in here," her voice suddenly said.

He jumped at the sound of her voice and wondered if this was a trick of some sort. "You sure?" he asked, his hand hovering over the doorknob.

"Yes," she said, her voice short.

He said a silent prayer and entered her room. She was sitting on her bed, her broken ankle elevated on a pillow. It was clear that she'd just settled down and didn't plan on doing much.

"Uh, hi," he said, his voice slightly cracking.

"Thank you for your apology," she said. "I accept it. And I think you should know that after some thought I've come to the conclusion that the fight was my doing and it was over nothing. I apologize."

"Oh," said Gar, quite surprised. "Well, uh, apology accepted." The air grew quiet and he tried to figure out what he should do with himself now. "So, um, are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine," she said simply.

"Hey it's just you and me," said Gar. "If you need something I won't tell the others that you asked for help."

"If I truly needed help I'd ask for it," she said, though they both knew this to be a lie. "I told you, I'm fine."

"Well if you do need anything just call out cuz I'll be up in the attic," said Gar. "I should be able to hear you."

"Thank you for the offer," she said. "But I think I can manage. It's just my ankle, after all."

"Yeah, but you'd be surprised how much stuff you need your ankle for," said Gar.

"Again, thanks, but I'll be fine," said Raven, growing agitated that he was still there.

"Okay, nice talking to you then," he said with a smile, knowing that he should get out of there.

Once he was gone, Raven sighed and relaxed into her bed for a moment. What a rotten day it had been. She'd gotten into a fight over nothing, was hit by a car, totaled her bike, and broke her ankle. She knew that having a broken ankle wouldn't stop her from writing, it was actually a good excuse to stay in her room all the time, but she was rather upset about her bike. She had enjoyed taking a ride around the town when she needed a break. Now what was she going to do?

After she rested for a moment she got up and slowly began the process of changing into her pajamas. She really wanted to shower but she was far too tired to figure out how that was going to work. Her ankle hurt terribly so she took a few painkillers the doctor in the emergency room had given her. She usually had no problem with pain but, then again, she wasn't used to having a bone snapped.

She crawled back onto her bed and gently placed her ankle upon the pillow again. She didn't mind sleeping without any covers that night; it was very warm out. She rested her head upon her one remaining pillow and sighed, allowing herself to melt into the bed. She hadn't felt this tired in a very long time. So when she heard a knock upon her door she groaned and wondered what she'd done to deserve all of this bad luck.

"What?" she snapped.

"It is Kori, may I speak with you?" asked Kori.

Raven sighed and said, "I'm really tired, can't it wait?"

"It will not take very long," said Kori.

"Fine," Raven grumbled.

Kori entered the dark room and turned the light on. She saw her friend lying in her bed with her injured ankle elevated. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Not very patient," Raven said in all honesty. "So what is it?"

"I just want you to know that we were all very worried today," said Kori. "And Garfield feels very guilty."

"I already spoke with him," said Raven. "He apologized and so did I. The matter's closed."

"Are you not happy that we were all worried?" asked Kori. "Can you not see that we all care about you?"

"What are you getting at?" asked Raven.

"I just…I wish that you would attempt to be a little friendlier," said Kori. "We used to be friends, correct? Why do you not talk to me anymore?"

"Kori, I've made it very clear that I don't need nor want any friends," said Raven. "And, yes, at one point I would've called you something close to a friend. But I no longer look at you that way."

"Why?" asked Kori. "Why am I not your friend anymore?"

"Because friends don't go behind friends' backs," said Raven. "They don't make important decisions without their consent."

"I do not think I follow," said Kori.

"I told you that I didn't want these men staying here," said Raven, trying to make this as clear as she could. "I told you how strongly I was against the whole thing. But then you went behind my back and invited them to spend the summer with us. Didn't it occur to you that there was a very good reason that I didn't want them here?"

"I know that you were nervous that they would cause us harm, but they are decent men," said Kori. "If you had a little more faith in people then you would not be fearful of them."

"I'm not scared of people," said Raven. "I'm scared of what they'll do to someone like you who has too much faith in them. Your kindness may get you into a lot of trouble someday."

"And do you suppose you will not get into trouble because you do not show the same amount of kindness towards others as I do?" asked Kori.

"In a way, yes," said Raven.

"But do you really like being so mean to everyone?" asked Kori.

"I'm not being mean, I'm being cautious," said Raven. "And you'd do well to be a little more cautious."

"If I were as cautious as you I would not have a life," said Kori, crossing her arms.

"No, you wouldn't have the life you'd prefer," said Raven. "Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to ensure our survival."

"You make far too many sacrifices, Raven," said Kori. "What are you so afraid of?"

Raven went quiet and looked away from the redhead. "Are you done?" she said at last. "You said this wasn't going to take long and you've surpassed that mark quite some time ago."

Kori sighed and said, "Yes, I am finished. I will let you rest." She went towards the door and turned the overhead light off. "Goodnight my friend." Raven did not respond to this so after a moment Kori decided to just leave.

Raven found herself to be in a slightly fouler mood now. Kori just didn't understand. She came from a whole other world. She hadn't experienced the things Raven had. She didn't know what it was really like out there. Raven knew all of this far too well. She knew too much for her own good.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 12

The next morning Raven awoke and nearly forgot about the day before. That is, until she tried to move her leg and realized there was a cast on her foot. She did her best to move her body to the edge of her bed and swing her legs over the side. Then she put her weight on her good foot and hopped around her room. She felt like a fool but there was nothing else she could do.

She got everything she needed to take a shower but then realized she had to figure out how to bathe without getting her cast wet. She sat down on her bed, since her leg was getting tired, and began to think. She'd never broken a bone before, but she'd known plenty of people who had. How did they shower? That's right, they put a plastic bag, sometimes two, around their cast as well as a strong elastic band or tape.

"Great, I've got to go downstairs," she said to herself and got back up.

She hopped to her door and then out of her room. She reached the stairs and paused. She hadn't remembered them being so steep before. She grabbed both handrails tightly and hopped down the first step. Success! She hopped down the next one without a problem. Third, fourth, she was on her way. Unfortunately on the sixth step her heal just missed the mark and she dropped down to the seventh step. She let out a slight yelp of surprise and fell backwards onto her behind before she could fall anymore.

"Well, this is going great," she muttered.

"Raven?" she heard a familiar voice say from down the stairs. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered, though her heart was still racing.

Suddenly Gar appeared at the bottom of the stairs, having been lounging on the couch watching some morning cartoons. He saw her sitting on the stairs, looking a little startled. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm going down the stairs, obviously," she said.

"And you're not doing a very good job," he chuckled and went up the stairs to where she was. "Come on, I'll help you."

"Thanks, but I can manage on my own," she said, lifting herself back up.

"I know, but I'm just gonna make it easier for you," he said. "I'll be your second leg." He grabbed her around the waist and held her close. "See? Now just hop down and I'll support you."

Raven felt her heart racing once again as well as a tingling sensation from her cheeks down throughout her collarbone. Before she could protest or say anything the two of them were traveling the remaining distance down the stairs. She was completely stiff the whole time, paralyzed with shock from the situation.

They reached the bottom and Gar handed her her crutches that were still up against the wall. "Here you go," he said with a smile.

"Thanks," she said and took them, not looking him in the eye as she did so. She tucked one crutch under each arm and began her quest for a plastic bag and something to keep it on her leg. She decided to start in the kitchen, since she was pretty sure that's where they'd be.

"What're you looking for?" Gar asked curiously as he watched her look in and out of draws and cupboards.

"I need to take a shower and I can't get my cast wet," she said as she continued to look.

"Oh, then you need some plastic wrap," said Gar, going into the kitchen and opening one of the draws.

"No, I need a plastic bag," said Raven. "And some tape."

"Have you ever had a cast before?" Gar asked.

"No," she replied.

"Well I have," he said, taking out the plastic wrap. "I broke my arm when I was nine and my foot when I was fourteen. I know a thing or two about casts."

"Okay then enlighten me," she said. "How did you take showers?"

"You wrap the plastic wrap around your cast like a dozen times and tape up the ends," he said. "That's what I always did." He grabbed a roll of duct tape from another draw and said, "I'll go put these in the bathroom for you and you can start heading up the stairs." He smiled and took off.

Raven still wanted to do her idea, but his did make sense. So she sighed and headed back towards the stairs to make the trip back up them. She knew she was going to get sick of these stairs very quickly.

An hour later Raven was clean and her cast was still dry. She felt much better now, though she knew she'd have to thank Gar for his ingenious plastic wrap idea. She didn't feel all that comfortable around him now, not that she ever really did, since he'd helped her down the stairs. She'd been unable to control her feelings when he'd touched her and that upset her greatly. Rule 1: Feelings and emotions are pointless, do not surrender to them.

It was around noon when she finally decided to leave her room and go find the green haired annoyance and thank him. Of course, this meant she'd have to go back down the stairs. This time she went very slowly and made sure her foot wouldn't overstep the, well, step. She made it down safely and took a look around. No Gar, but she saw Vic eating a sandwich.

"Hey there," he said cautiously.

"Hello," Raven replied. "Where's Gar?"

Vic choked on his sandwich. "Why?" he asked. "You're not gonna kill him, are you?"

"Not today," said Raven. "I just need to thank him for something."

"Well he's out somewhere," said Vic. "He said he was going into town like two hours ago."

"Did he drive?" Raven asked.

"Hell no!" said Vic. "Like I'd ever let that spaz drive my baby."

"I take it he's not a very good driver," she said, taking a seat at the table. The less time she had to be on those damned crutches the better.

"Well, he's not horrible," said Vic. "But he's certainly not good enough to drive _my_ car."

"You seem to have a very…strange relationship with your vehicle," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Vic shrugged. "We've all got our hobbies. Mine happens to be treating my car like my own flesh and blood."

"I see," said Raven.

The front door flew open and Gar walked in, a large grin on his face and a brand new helmet on his head. "Come see what I got, dudes," he said, practically shaking with excitement.

"Oh no," said Vic, getting up and heading for the door. Raven stood up, grabbed her crutches, and followed after them.

"Well, what do you think?" Gar asked.

"Oh my God," said Vic, placing his hand over his eyes. "I can't believe you actually got one."

"I know, isn't it great?" said Gar.

"You got a scooter?" said Raven.

Yes, Gar had fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams and had rented a scooter for the summer. It was new, it was fast, it was green, it was perfect. Gar was practically giddy he was so happy.

"What the hell possessed you to go waste your money on this?" asked Vic.

"Well, other than the fact that I've always wanted one, I was thinking and I thought that this would be a good way for Raven to get around," he said, turning towards her. "Now you don't have to be all cooped up all of the time."

Raven was quite shocked by this. "You actually got this with me in mind?" she asked.

"Yup," he said with a smile. "Your broken ankle was just the excuse I needed to finally get one. So who wants to take it for a spin?"

"Pass," said Cyborg.

"Spoilsport," said Gar. "What about you, Raven? It's a real smooth ride."

"I somewhat doubt that," said Raven. "But I suppose I should try it out."

"That's the spirit!" said Gar.

She handed her crutches to him and then got onto the scooter. He took the helmet he was wearing off and placed it on her head. She fastened it and turned the key that was still in the ignition. The scooter turned on and within seconds Raven took off. It was a bit faster than she expected it to be and quickly slowed down. The last thing she needed was to get into another accident. She took a spin around the block and then came back.

"So what do you think?" Gar asked, unable to stop smiling.

"I think I can make this work," she said. "It's a little loud but seems pretty sturdy."

"Cool, so you wanna share it with me?" asked Gar.

"How about I pay you half the amount you rented it for?" asked Raven. "If I don't then I'll feel guilty for using it."

"That's okay, I don't mind just sharing it with you," said Gar.

"Take the money, Gar," said Vic. "You don't have much to begin with."

"No, I don't want the money," said Gar. "If I take half the money for this then I won't feel like I did a good deed."

"A good deed?" asked Raven.

"Yeah," said Gar. "After the nasty fight we had yesterday I just feel like I have to do a good deed to somewhat make up for it. So, please, keep your money and just use it like it was your own, okay?"

Raven wasn't sure she'd ever met anyone like this before. He actually had a conscience? And he listened to it? No one had ever done anything for her or kept her in their mind before. This was all very strange.

"Okay," she said. "If you're absolutely sure."

"Yup," he said with a grin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go for another ride." He grabbed the helmet right off of Raven's head and put it on his own. He quickly jumped on the scooter and was about to take off when Raven finally remembered that she had something to tell him.

" Gar, before you go I wanted to say thank you for helping me with my cast this morning," she said quickly.

"Hey, no problem," he said with a wink and then took off down the street.

Raven watched the green haired man faded away in the distance. Had he just winked at her? What did that mean? She certainly had a lot to think about now. She especially wanted to know why the burning rage she'd felt since nearly the moment she'd met him was gone.

"You better watch out, Raven," Vic chuckled. "I think Gar's getting a little crush on you."

Raven's head snapped towards him, her eyes wide. She felt herself blushing once again and decided to cover it up by scowling and walking away. Of course, she didn't walk as much as she hopped away with the assistance of her crutches.

"If he knows what's good for him he won't," she said, her voice perfectly cold and scary. She was quite proud of herself for delivering the line so well when she certainly didn't feel cold or scary. She felt flustered and a little confused.

She made the long journey up to her room and locked herself inside. She sat down on her bed and tried to think of how things had changed so drastically since the day before. She didn't like this; she didn't like it at all. She was starting to crack. That was the plain truth of the situation. She'd spoken to Vic, something she'd never done before, and she'd had a civil exchange with Gar. She had to be very careful now. If she softened anymore it could very well lead to her downfall.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 13

The sky was gray and foreboding. They'd had a couple cloudy days before, but this looked like a promising storm. Everyone ran around closing the windows and putting away anything that was outside and would become ruined if left in the rain. Of course, Vic was freaking out because he couldn't find his car cover to protect his baby from the impending storm. So he drove it into town to buy one. And Raven was upset because Gar hadn't replaced her broken window. So she had him redoing the patch job he'd done with plastic and tape. She wasn't about to her the rain pouring into her room.

"You had enough money to get a scooter but not enough for a new window for me?" Raven asked, looking up from her book. She was currently sitting on her bed reading, her ankle on a pillow.

"Hey, it's a thing called priority," said Gar with a smile. "Would you rather have a way of getting away from here or a window you don't look out of anyway?"

"Just keep working," she said. "I can hear thunder in the distance already."

"Don't you worry," he said. "Not a single drop of rain's gonna get in here."

"It better not," said Raven, casting her eyes back down to her book.

Gar finished taping the edges of the plastic once again and stepped back to look at his work. "Not bad, if I do say so myself," he said, nodding with approval. He turned back towards her and smiled. "So, do you need anything else done while I'm here?"

"No, that'll be all," said Raven.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Cuz I'm actually quite a handyman."

"I'm sure you are," Raven said evenly. "But I don't need anything else done."

"Okay, if you're sure," he said and grabbed all of the supplies he'd entered with. He was just about to leave when something on her bureau caught his eye. His curiosity got the better of him and he went over to get a closer look. It looked like a very old antique mirror. "Hey, cool mirror." He picked it up and looked at his reflection.

The moment Raven heard the word 'mirror' her eyes snapped up from the book. "Put that down!" she ordered.

Gar jumped and nearly dropped it. "Whoa, why?" he asked, startled.

"Just put it down!" she said, growing angry.

"Okay," he said quickly and put it back down. "Sorry, I was just trying to get a better look at it."

"Haven't you ever heard of looking with your eyes and not with your hands?" she asked.

"You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that, actually," said Gar. "So, where'd you get it?"

"It was a gift," said Raven. "And it's very dear to me, so don't ever touch it again. In fact, do us both a favor, and don't touch anything of mine. Now get out."

"Hey, calm down," he said. "I didn't know I was doing something wrong."

"You should have enough manners not to go around touching things that don't belong to you," she said.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said. "I won't touch anything of yours ever again. I was just curious, that's all. It's always been a problem of mine, actually."

"Well you should work on it," said Raven.

"Will do," he said. "And now I think I better get outta here before I get into any more trouble."

"You read my mind," Raven replied.

"Okay see you later then," he said with a wink and then headed out of her room.

Raven saw him wink and suddenly felt a thousand feelings at once. "Wait a second!" she said, putting her book aside.

Gar practically tripped over his own feet when he heard her bark at him. "What?" he asked, spinning back around.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, looking as if she was going to attack him if her ankle wasn't broken.

"Do what?" he asked, feeling confused.

"Wink!" she said. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't know!" he said. "I just do it from time to time."

"Well don't do it towards me," she said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I said so!" said Raven.

"Okay, I won't wink at you!" he said, backing away. "Jesus, I had no idea you'd take a wink so seriously."

"You're winking at me is the same as me blowing a kiss at you," said Raven. "Now what would you think if I did that?"

"If _you_ did that?" said Gar with a light chuckle. "I'd think you'd gone temporarily insane, to be honest." Raven glared at him, sending a chill through his spine. "Okay, um, if you blew a kiss at me I'd probably think you were flirting with me."

"Right,so what do you think I think when you wink at me?" said Raven.

"Um… that I'm flirting with you?" he guessed.

"Correct," she said.

"Oh, well, um, I'm not," said Gar, scratching the back of his neck. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you're kinda sorta nice to look at and all, but you're not my type."

She raised an eyebrow. "Sort of kind of nice to look at?"

"Hey, it was a compliment considering…" he slapped his hand over his mouth and knew he was in big trouble now.

Raven's eyes grew dark and he could've sworn he saw fire behind them. "Considering what?" she asked through her teeth.

"Uh…well…uh…" he blabbered, trying to think of what he should say.

"Considering how ugly I am?" she said. "Is that what you were going to say?"

"N-No!" he said, waving his hands and moving backwards towards the door. Dear God he had to get out of there! "That wasn't what I was gonna say at all!"

"Then what were you going to say?" asked Raven, her words dripping with venom.

"W-Well, it's not that you're ugly, it's just that you're, uh, you know," he sputtered. "Different."

"Different?" she said. "Different how?" She didn't care if her ankle was broken, she was going to throttle him!

"Different, as in, um, you're not like other girls," he said, secretly reaching behind him and trying to find the doorknob. "Like you're not like Kori."

"So you're into girls who are more like Kori, is that it?" she asked.

"Well, not exactly like her, but in a way, I guess," he said, finally finding the knob. He quickly turned it and opened the door. "Uh, this has been great, but I gotta go. See ya!" And with that he bolted out of the room.

Raven watched him run down the hallway and the practically jump down the stairs. This ticked her off, mostly because he'd left without closing the door. Now she had to do it. She swung her legs off of her bed and stood up on her good foot. She then hopped all the way to the door and closed it, locking it as well.

"I'm not like other girls, huh?" she said softly to herself. "Thank God for that."

Gar sat on the couch, trying to catch his breath. He'd never been cornered like that before. He should've known better than to push his luck and start winking at her. The truth was that he was actually a very flirtatious guy and usually had no problem winking at random girls he fancied. Why'd he start winking at Raven? He wasn't quite sure. He hadn't even winked at Kori yet. It just felt like the natural thing to do with her. What the hell did that mean? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he was probably going to be killed before the end of the summer if he didn't start playing it safer.

"Hey," Vic called out as he entered the house. "Everything bolted down?"

"I think so," said Gar. "Dick and Kori went to the store to get something to eat."

"They go in Raven's car?" asked Vic.

"Surprisingly, yes," said Gar. "I guess she lets Kori use it when she needs to. Anyway, did you get a cover for your car?"

"Sure did," Vic said with a smile. "My baby's got her rain jacket on and is gonna be well protected from this storm."

"How does it look out there?" asked Gar.

"Not good," said Vic. "The sky's practically black and I could see lightning striking as I was driving back. This is gonna be one hell of a storm."

"Cool," said Gar. "I always love thunderstorms."

"Is that why you always scream like a girl when there's a big crash of thunder?" Vic laughed.

"Aw, come on, that was only one time!" said Gar. "And that's cuz lightning struck that tree outside of our room! Of course I was gonna scream, I was totally caught off guard!" Vic laughed to himself and headed down to his room. If the storm got really bad then they'd all have to hang out down in the basement until it passed over.

A few minutes later Dick and Kori returned with a few bags of groceries and the final steps were taken to secure the house. Flashes of lighting could be seen now and the thunder was growing closer and closer. The wind was picking up and the rain began to fall. It was also high tide, so the waves that were crashing on the shore were very close to the house and becoming more and more vicious.

"Oh, I do not like this," said Kori. "Will it really get worse?"

"Oh yeah," said Vic. "It hasn't even hit us yet."

"I have never been in a storm like this before," said Kori, getting closer to Dick.

"Don't worry, they build houses on the beach like this really strong for storms far worse than this," said Dick, putting his arm around her waist.

There was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder nearly overhead and it shook the whole house. Kori squealed with fright and clung to Dick. To be honest, all of them jumped.

"Uh, I think we should go into the basement," said Gar, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.

"Yes, I would like that very much," Kori nodded enthusiastically.

"Then let's go," said Vic. "Just don't touch my stuff."

"Hey, do you think we should go get Raven?" asked Dick. "She's up in her room with that busted window. If something happens she's not going to be able to get out of there very fast."

"Well I'm not gonna go get her," said Gar.

"Oh no, did you guys have another fight?" asked Vic, crossing his arms.

"Let's just say she's not all that pleased with me at the moment," said Gar. "One of you can go get her."

There was another crash of lightning and they all ducked for cover instinctively. The storm was almost over them now. Rain and hail pounded against the house, a very loud sound, and the sky was virtually black. And then, with a flicker, the electricity went out. Kori was very frightened now and clung to Dick so tightly he thought she thought they were going to die.

"I don't care which one of you gets her, just do it," said Dick, his authoritative side coming through. "I've got to get Kori downstairs before she has a nervous breakdown." And with that he began leading Kori towards the basement door.

"Well I already said I'm not getting her," said Gar. "So it's up to you, Vic."

"Hey, she's got no problem with me," said Vic. "You should go cuz she already hates you."

"That makes no sense at all!" said Gar. "If I do one more thing to piss her off I know she's gonna kill me!"

"Then don't piss her off!" said Vic, running for the basement door.

"No!" Gar screamed and sprinted after him but it was too late. Vic made it through the door and closed it behind him, locking it as well. Gar grabbed the knob and tried to jiggle it open, but it didn't work. He pounded on it and yelled, "You bastard! You fucking coward!" There was a very violent lightning strike nearby and it was louder than the previous ones. Gar practically dropped to the ground. He knew he had to go get Raven as quickly as he could. "Fuck."

He ran up the stairs to her room in under three seconds. He decided that knocking would take up too much time so he just threw the door open. He saw her sitting on her bed, her curtains pulled. She had a book in her hand and jumped as he suddenly exploded into her room.

"What the hell are you doing?" she said, more startled than anything.

"Come on, it's not safe for you up here," he said, going over to her.

"Trust me, I've been in far worse storms than this," said Raven.

"So have I but you've got a flimsy window that could bust open," he said. "So come on, we're all going into the basement."

"You don't have to worry about me," said Raven. "I'll be fine."

"It'd make me feel better if you went downstairs with us," said Gar. "I mean, so far your luck this summer hasn't been all that great and with the way you're going you may get struck by lightning!"

Raven thought about this for a moment then said, "Let's get the hell out of here."


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 14

Considering the intensity of the storm, the damage was actually quite minimal. Some debris had blown onto the lawn as well as the cars. Vic was relieved to see that the car cover had protected his baby perfectly. And, as they feared, the plastic covering Raven's window did bust, causing her entire desk to become soaked. Luckily, she'd thought ahead and had placed everything of value in a safe spot, just in case such a thing was to happen.

The next day both Raven and Gar decided it was time they went and got a new window. Gar had to pay for it but Raven knew the measurements and wanted to choose the right glass. And, since she couldn't drive with her foot and Gar wasn't allowed to drive either car this meant they'd have to travel on the scooter. Why couldn't they just get dropped off by their friends? Because Vic went to get his car washed and Dick and Kori took Raven's car to go buy the Fourth of July fireworks. And this all happened before Gar and Raven decided to go on their window hunt.

"Got your helmet?" asked Gar.

"I don't have a helmet," said Raven.

"What? You've been driving around this entire time without a helmet on?" asked Gar.

"Of course not," said Raven, rolling her eyes. "I've been wearing yours. Mine got run over in the accident."

"Well, here," Gar said with a sigh and handed her his helmet.

"No, that's okay," said Raven. "I'll drive and you wear the helmet."

"Why do you get to drive?" asked Gar.

"Because I've heard a couple horror stories about your driving and I'm not too fond of getting into another accident," said Raven, getting onto the scooter. "You can sit behind me."

Gar grumbled and took a seat on the back of the seat. "Fine, you can drive," he said. "But I still want you to wear the helmet." He placed it on her head and then tried to get comfortable on the seat. "I think you've got far more to protect than me."

"Oh," said Raven. "Well…thank you." She fastened the helmet and then turned the scooter on. She took hold of the handles and began to pull out of the driveway.

"I hope you don't mind, but I think I should hold onto you," he said, placing his hands on either side of her waist.

Raven felt her cheeks blush and was glad he couldn't see her face. "Considering I'm wearing the helmet I think it's best that you hang on," said Raven, hating that it was the truth.

Gar had no idea that the scooter could go as fast as Raven made it go. It was clear she was as uncomfortable with all of this as he was. Though, he had to admit, it was nice to be touching a girl's waist, even if it was hers.

They made it into town in record time. Before Gar knew it they'd reached the home improvement store and had parked. He was so impressed that he accidentally let his hands linger on her waist a little too long and she quickly slapped both of them, causing him to release her. She crawled off of the scooter and took the helmet off.

"Come on, let's get this over with," she said.

"Why don't I just sit out here and then you can come get me when you've decided?" he asked.

"Whatever," Raven replied and went inside.

He watched her go inside and felt relieved. He leaned against the scooter, crossed his arms, and began to look around. It was a nice day, though there were still branches and such in the streets from the storm, and he was glad to be out of the house. He was also glad he didn't have to go into the store with her. The two of them still weren't on the best of terms.

He looked around and saw that the town was already getting ready for the upcoming Fourth of July. There was red, white, and blue all over the place as well as posters advertising where fireworks could be seen. He loved fireworks. He hoped they could see them from the beach back at the house. He knew that Dick had gotten some, but store bought ones were never as good as the big ones.

It was then that he remembered he needed to get the napkins. He'd found some when he'd gotten the plates and utensils, but they were plain and he wanted something festive. He pondered leaving the scooter and going to get them, but he knew that Raven expected him to be out there when she needed him. He decided he'd be good and wait and once she had her window he could go get the napkins. As long as he let her continue to drive he figured she wouldn't mind if he ran a few errands. They had to get her a helmet anyway.

A few minutes later the store door opened and Raven exited, and she didn't look too happy. "Come on, I need your money," she said.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Unfortunately they don't have the correct size of the glass I've chosen so I've got to wait for them to ship it in," said Raven. "But you still have to pay upfront."

Gar went in and paid for the glass that they couldn't even bring home. He could tell that the guy who'd been working with her wasn't in the best of moods. He was sure Raven made a big deal about something small. Once Raven got the receipt for the glass they headed back to the scooter.

"So what was he all pissed about?" asked Gar.

"He tried to sell me some expensive crap that wouldn't even keep the rain out," said Raven. "I guess the brand that I chose is the absolute best you can get and not all that pricey."

"I thought, since I was paying, you'd get the most expensive glass in there," he chuckled.

"All I wanted was a sturdy piece of glass that would look good and work like it's supposed to," said Raven. "And, just so you know, I did set a price limit of how much I wanted you to spend. I wasn't going to bleed you of money."

"Oh," said Gar. "Well, thanks. Hey, I hope you don't mind, but I've got a few errands to run. I figure as long as we're here I might as well get them over with."

Raven sighed and said, "I guess I don't mind. What do you need?"

"To get some cool Fourth of July napkins and get you a helmet," he said.

"I can get my own helmet," she said.

"Okay, you get the helmet and I'll get the napkins," he said.

"Fine, but I don't see why I should get a helmet," said Raven. "I don't mind borrowing yours, unless you mind."

"No, I don't mind," said Gar. "But it can't possibly fit you right. You should get one that fits you right."

"That does make sense," said Raven, climbing back on the scooter.

Gar climbed on behind her and said, "Uh, do you think that this time you could go a little slower?"

"Sure," said Raven. "And do you think you could not hold me so tight."

"I was only holding so tight because you were going so fast!" Gar laughed.

"I wasn't going that fast," said Raven.

"Well, I've never gone that fast," said Gar. "Do you speed around like that all of time?"

"…no," said Raven as she pulled out of the parking spot. "So where do you want to go to get these Fourth of July napkins?"

"I wanna try the dollar store, actually," he said. "They have a whole Independence Day section. And, for all we know, they could have helmets!"

"I'm not wearing a dollar store helmet," said Raven. "I'm sure it wouldn't even hold up against a bug flying into it."

"That's true," Gar laughed.

They reached the dollar store and Raven parked again. Luckily the bicycle store was nearby and she figured she could walk to it while he was buying his napkins. The two parted ways and said they'd meet back at the scooter.

Raven walked down to the bike shop and found that the lights were off and the 'closed' sign was in the window. A note near the sign said something about renovations. She sighed and headed back to the scooter. So far this trip into town wasn't turning out like she'd hoped it would. She was helmet and windowless.

She made it back to the scooter and leaned against it. She hadn't been there for three seconds when Gar suddenly burst out of the store and ran over to her.

"You gotta come in here!" he said. "You won't believe the cool stuff they've got!"

"Do they have your napkins?" she asked, ignoring his previous statement.

"Yeah and practically everything else to make the Fourth of July ultra cool!" he said and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the scooter. "Come on, you've gotta see!"

"Let me go!" she said as he dragged her into the store.

"Please?" he begged. "I'll buy you something."

"Oh well in that case, no!" she said, pulling her hand free of his. Of course, by this point, they were both in the store.

"Okay, come see these cool flags!" he said, running over to a large display that did, indeed, have everything you could ever think of to make Independence Day special. "And look at these glow sticks! We could totally put them all over the beach or use them to make paths so when it gets dark people don't trip over anything. Oh, and check this out!" He put on a pair of very flamboyant glasses that had foil fireworks sprouting from them.

"Cute," she said sarcastically as she crossed her arms.

"You wanna try them on?" he asked with a smile as he took them off.

"I'll pass," she said. "But I did like your glow stick idea."

"You did? Really?" he asked, surprised that she'd like anything he'd suggest. "Awesome! I'll get a bunch." He grabbed the whole lot of glow sticks and put them in his shopping basket. "Cool, let's see what else we can use."

Raven wasn't sure how anyone could have so much energy all the time. He ran around grabbing things and talking a mile a minute. Did he really think she cared? He sure acted like she did. And all he did was smile. What was with that? What was he so happy about?

"Oh, I've absolutely gotta get this!" said Gar. He placed a top hat that had a flag pattern on it on his head and tipped it toward her. "How cool am I?"

"Is that a trick question?" she asked. "Did you get your napkins yet?"

"Yup, I filled that basket with them," he said, pointing to one of three baskets.

"Then can we go?" she asked.

"Not yet, I wanna find something for you," he said.

"I don't need anything, thank you," said Raven. "I'd rather go home."

"Hey, why didn't you get a helmet?" he asked.

"The bike shop's closed," said Raven. "Now can we go?"

"Just a minute," he said and began looking through everything even more determinedly.

Raven sighed and stood off to the side, arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. She wasn't sure how his friends could put up with him. Hell, she wasn't sure how anyone could put up with him. It was no wonder he was so thin; he probably burned millions of calories a day with his constant moving and talking.

"Ah ha!" he said at last. "This is perfect." He grabbed something and walked over to her. "Okay, close your eyes."

"You can't be serious," said Raven.

"Come on, just for a second," he said.

She rolled her eyes and then closed them. She felt him slip something in her hair, slightly pulling a lock back, and then heard something click. "Are you done?" she asked.

"Yup, open your eyes," he said.

She did and said, "So, what did you do?"

"Go look in the mirror next to the sunglasses," he said.

She was getting quite sick of this, but went over all the same. She looked in and saw that he'd slipped a lovely flag shaped barrette in her hair. The stars on the flag even sparkled slightly. It wasn't as ridiculous as everything else on display.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

She shrugged and said, "It's not terrible."

"I really think you should let me get it for you," said Gar. "It actually pulls your hair back. Don't you want people to see your face?"

"Not particularly," said Raven.

"Well I'm gonna get you two and you better wear them on the fourth," he said.

"Even if I do you won't see them," said Raven. "I'm not going to be around."

"That's okay," said Gar with a shrug. "I just want you to wear them. Maybe if you do you'll feel more comfortable showing your face instead of hiding it all the damn time."

Raven looked at him oddly, not sure what he meant by that.

"Hey, you wanna get ice cream after this?" he asked with a big smile.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 15

Gar walked over to the picnic table where Raven was sitting, waiting for her ice cream cone. She wasn't sure how he'd talked her into this, but she was actually looking forward to having some ice cream. Next to her sat four bags full of Gar's purchases. And, within them, two flag shaped barrettes.

"Okay you wanted pistachio, right?" he asked.

"No, I said vanilla," she said with a frown.

He laughed and said, "I'm just kidding. I got you vanilla with the chocolate sprinkles, just like you asked." He handed it to her and took a seat across from her.

"What did you get?" she asked, taking a lick of her ice cream.

"Cotton candy," he said, taking a big lick of his own.

"How come you drink soy milk but eat regular ice cream?" she asked.

"Well, if it were my choice, I'd eat soy ice cream, but not many ice cream places offer them," said Gar. "So I indulge in regular ice cream every once in a while."

"That sounds kind of hypocritical," said Raven.

"No, it's more about convenience," he said with a smirk. "Besides, cows gotta get milked or they'll be in pain."

"Then why don't you drink regular milk?" she asked.

"Because we're not supposed to drink the milk of other animals," he said in a matter-of-fact way. "Cow milk is meant for calves, not people."

"Alright, I can respect," she said. "So I'm guessing you don't eat meat based on morals, right?"

"Oh yeah," said Gar. "I really care about animals. I haven't eaten meat since I was five."

"Five? You were that aware of life and death that young?" she asked.

"Well…yeah," he said. "See, my birth parents died around that time. And once you've experienced death firsthand you kinda become aware of how the circle of life works. And I decided I didn't want to eat some poor animal's mom or dad."

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents," said Raven. "May I ask what happened?"

"They drowned," said Gar.

"That's horrible," said Raven. It wasn't every day that you heard of anyone losing both of their parents to drowning. "Where were you when it happened?"

"I was with them, actually," said Gar, focusing on a random spot on the table. "They were biologists and we were living in Africa at the time, where they were doing work. All I really remember about that day is that there was a flood, we were in a boat, somehow I got to higher ground, and they got washed away."

"I'm so sorry," she said. She couldn't believe someone so happy all the time could've gone through something so traumatizing.

"You don't have to be sorry," he said. "Anyway, after some more shit, I finally got adopted into my current family who totally adore me." He smiled, trying to break the sadness, and an awkward silence set in. "So…we went from talking about why I don't eat meat to my tragic childhood. How the hell did that happen?"

"Well one thing leads to another, as they say," said Raven.

"Okay, well, since I told you about some of my past, I think you owe me a little something in return," said Gar. "I mean, I don't really know anything about you. What about your parents?"

Raven's eyes went dark and she looked away. "I don't want to talk about them," she said, licking a bit of melted ice cream off of her fingers.

"I'm guessing you don't get along with them, huh?" he said.

"You could put it that way," said Raven.

"Why not?" he asked. "I mean, I know you don't get along with many people, but I figured you'd at least be on good terms with your folks."

"Well I'm not," said Raven. "Let's leave it at that."

"Hey, I told you how my parents died," said Gar. "You owe me a little more info then that."

Raven sighed and said, "Fine. I'm estranged from my father and I rarely ever see my mother."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because my father's an egotistical abusive criminal and my mother sent me to boarding school when I was five so she wouldn't have to look at me," said Raven.

"Is that why you're so smart?" he asked. "Cuz you went to boarding school?"

"I suppose so," Raven said.

"Well, at least they're still around," said Gar.

"Unfortunately," said Raven. "Luckily I got my father thrown in jail so I don't have to worry about him anymore. And my mother would rather die than have to be in contact with me."

"You got your father thrown in jail?" said Gar. "What happened?"

"That's none of your business," said Raven. "Let's just say he wanted me to enter an illegal family business."

"Whoa," said Gar. "That's intense. You should write your book about that!"

"I am," said Raven.

"Really?" he said. "So you're writing your autobiography?"

"Not exactly," said Raven. "It's more like a story based on my experiences."

"So if it's based on your experiences how come you were so upset when I ruined your notes?" he asked. "I mean they're all in your head, aren't they?"

"My notes are my ideas of how to combine my life and the story I want to write into one," said Raven. "It's been very difficult to do that so when I thought my notes were ruined I thought that I'd have to start the ordeal all over again."

"Oh, I see," said Gar. "Well, I can't wait to read it when you finally publish it."

"You can read?" she asked.

"Very funny," he said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you better send me a copy when you're done with it."

"You can buy it like everybody else," said Raven.

"Aw, come on!" he said. "Why can't you give me a free autographed one?"

"Who said anything about autographed?" said Raven. "Let me guess, you'd want me to make it out to some online auction site, right?"

Gar smiled sheepishly and said, "No, of course not." Raven gave him a knowing look and began to nibble on her cone. "So I think this is the first real conversation we've ever had."

"Probably," said Raven.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could do this more often?" he asked. "Instead of, you know, never even making eye contact?"

"I suppose," Raven said with a shrug.

"You know, I wouldn't be against us being friends," said Gar.

"You might not be, but I would," said Raven. "I've never liked the idea of friends."

"How can you not like the idea of having friends?" he asked. "I mean friends are always there for you and they help you and you have lots of fun times. If I didn't have any friends I don't think I could function."

"I guess I don't need to rely on others to get through life," said Raven.

"But what if someone needed _you_?" he asked. "What if you could make someone else's life better?"

"I'm acquaintances with Kori, aren't I?" said Raven. "And that didn't turn out all that well for me."

"Well you can't expect somebody to be perfect," said Gar. "Everyone has their faults. Friends are the people who accept your faults and like you anyway."

"So that's why Vic and Dick are able to tolerate you," she said.

"Pretty much," he chuckled. "So you think you wanna try it? Being friends with people?"

"Not really," said Raven.

"Come on, I think you can do it," said Gar. "It'll be tough but if you stick to it you'll see how nice having friends can be."

"Listen, do me a favor and stop trying to push the whole 'friendship' thing on me," said Raven. "I just don't believe in it."

"Well whether you believe in it or not I'm your friend," said Gar.

"You're forcing me to be your friend?" she asked.

"No, I'm not forcing anything," said Gar. "You might not be my friend but I'm gonna be yours."

"Please don't," said Raven.

"I can't help it," he said. "I accept you for who you are and I like you anyway. That means I'm your friend."

"You accept me for who I am?" she said, not believe him. "You're trying to change me."

"I'm just trying to help you make better decisions," he said. "But I accept that you're quiet, smart, stubborn, sometimes creepy, and completely antisocial. Hell, I admire you for going against the norm and doing what you want. I totally know what it's like to be looked at like a freak just because you look or believe in something different than everyone else."

"So…you really do accept me?" she asked.

"Yup, I do," he said with a smile. "Now, do you accept me?"

"Well, I guess so," she said.

"And do you like me anyway?" he asked with a grin.

"It's actually the reason I don't really care for you at all," she said with a slight chuckle and a slight smile.

And that's when Gar realized something in that smile. When her face wasn't tight, when her brown wasn't furrowed, when her lips were relaxed, she actually had an attractive quality about her. And, unfortunately, when he realized this the other side of her personality came forward. He couldn't help what came out of his mouth next.

"You know what?" he said. "You're kinda pretty when you smile."

Raven's eyes went large and she blushed terribly. She pursed her lips and made sure to look anywhere but at him. "What're you, drunk?" she said evenly. Didn't he practically say that she was ugly the day before?

He smirked and said, "And you know what else? When you blush you're _really_ pretty."

Raven's eyes went even wider, she blushed from head to toe, and she instantly stood up. Her face was tight again, her brows were furrowed, and her lips were turned down in a sever frown. "It's time to go home," she said crossly, threw the rest of her cone into the trash, and quickly headed towards the scooter.

Gar watched her practically sprint away from him and couldn't stop smiling. He'd struck a nerve with her. And, by her reaction, he couldn't help but get an inkling that she might like him more than she was admitting to. Well, he wasn't sure, but he knew he had to get up now or he'd be walking all the way back home.

He wolfed down the rest of his ice cream cone and ran over to the scooter. Raven was already on it and had turned it on. He slipped the four bags onto his arms and then placed his hands on either side of her waist. She stiffened up instantly. He chuckled under his breath.

'Oh yeah,' he thought to himself. 'I've still got it.'

It might've been hard to believe, but underneath that goofball happy-go-lucky guy was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Or at least he thought himself to be. He considered himself to be very smooth with the ladies. Unfortunately, his friends would have to disagree and say that no one put their foot in their mouth more often around women than him.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 16

It was July third and the final preparations for the party were taking place. The house was stuffed with supplies and everyone was doing last minute checks. Kori was already starting to put up the decorations because she was so excited she couldn't wait any longer, Vic was in the kitchen doing an inventory of all of the food, making sure there was enough, Dick sat on the couch reading all of the directions for each of the fireworks three times, and Gar was going to take all of the boxes down from his room.

Raven heard a knock on her door and she answered with a, "What?"

"It's Gar," said the green haired man on the other side.

"What do you want?" she asked. They hadn't really spoken since the day they'd gone into town together. She felt very uncomfortable around him now. It was as if something in his brain clicked and now all he did was flirt and tease her. Every time she'd leave her room he'd somehow appear, trying to talk to her in an odd tone that she assumed was meant for wooing the ladies. Well, she wasn't about to be 'wooed' so she did her best to ignore him. But, the truth was, he was really touching upon something within her that hadn't been touched in a long time.

"I need to get all of the stuff for the party out of my room, so the ladder's gonna be down for a while, okay?" he said.

"Yeah, fine," she replied.

"I just thought you should know so you don't leave your room and smack your pretty little head against the ladder again," he said.

Her blood boiled and she clenched her jaw hard. "Just do what you have to do," she said as civilly as she could.

"And if you hear something loud crashing to the floor it's just the boxes I'm dropping," he said.

"Got it," she said, losing what little patience she had.

"But if you hear a really big bang and a scream, it mean I've probably fallen," he chuckled.

"And if that happens I'll finally have some peace from you," she growled. "Now go do what you've got to do and leave me alone."

"Come on, you know you like our door chats," he said.

"Oh, yes, I like it just as much as I like boils and hemorrhoids," she said sarcastically.

"You sound really cute when you get all sarcastic like that," he chuckled.

Well, that was when she'd finally had enough of this. She grabbed the closest, non-breakable thing, a shoe, and threw it at the door. The bang of the shoe caught Gar off guard and he yelped with surprise as well as jumping away from the door.

"Get going!" she ordered.

"Ooh, I like it when you order me around," he replied.

Raven blushed and was made even angrier. "If you don't cut that out I'm going to have you arrested for harassment," she snapped.

"Hey, I'm not doing anything," he laughed. "You're gonna have me arrested because I say positive things?"

"Just shut up and get your damn boxes already!" she said, nearly ready to hop over to the door, throw it open, and toss him down the stairs.

She figured he must've gotten the hint to leave her alone when she heard no reply and a few moments later was startled by the sound of a box landing on the floor. She placed her earplugs in her ears and got back to work. She'd been making a lot of progress and was finally back on schedule. If she continued at this pace she'd be nearly finished by the end of the summer.

An hour passed and it was time for her scheduled tea break. She hadn't heard any muffled bangs, they sounded muffled with her earplugs in her ears, for a while and she figured he must've been finished with whatever task he took forever to get started with. She hopped over to her door and attempted to open it. To her dismay, it hit on the ladder, which was still down. She wasn't about to attempt squeezing through it again, so she'd have to call for assistance.

"Gar!" she called out. She heard a faint, "Oh shit," and then the sound of footsteps growing louder and then running up the stairs.

"Sorry, just give me a sec," said Gar as he grabbed the ladder and started to fold it up. "I didn't forget, I swear. Well I did kinda forget but it was more like I was distracted. One of our friends showed up and we were just talking to him." He got the ladder up and Raven opened her door. He gave her a nervous smile and scratched the back of his neck. She found it funny that now that he was in trouble his other persona dried right up.

"Which of your friends showed up?" she asked as she hopped out of her room and headed for the stairs.

"Garth," said Gar. "He's a marine biologist. The guy practically lives in the water. Do you want me to help you down the stairs?"

"I can manage," she said, coming to the stairs. She grabbed the hand rails and slowly began her descent.

"Come on, it'd be safer and quicker if you let me help you," he said. Before she could get any further he grabbed one of her hands and took it off of the rail. He had her place it around his waist and he placed his own arm around hers.

"I said I'll be fine!" she said, not liking how close together they were.

"Don't be stubborn," he said. "You don't wanna spend the Fourth of July in the hospital with a broken neck do y-"

That was as far as he got when he misjudged the next step and went tumbling forward, taking her down with him. The sound the two of them made caught everyone's attention and they all turned to see them both land at the bottom of the stairs in a heap.

"Holy shit!" was the first thing said after the fall, by Vic. The group ran over to them to make sure they were alright.

"Ow," moaned Gar.

"You idiot," Raven groaned back.

"What the hell happened?" asked Dick.

"Guess," said Raven, doing her best to sit up.

"Are you alright?" asked a very worried Kori.

"Just peachy," said Raven, crawling away from Gar.

"Gar, you okay?" asked Garth.

"I'll tell you when and if my heart stops racing," he said with a slight chuckle.

Vic helped Gar to his feet while Dick and Kori helped Raven onto her one good foot and handed her her crutches. Her ankle felt almost as bad as it did a week before but she wasn't about to tell the others. They'd force her to go to the hospital to get it checked out. But she was pretty sure it was okay. Just a little more strained.

"Wow, that was one hell of an entrance," Garth chuckled with a smile.

It was then that Raven finally realized that there was an extra person among them. She looked up from her hurting ankle and came face to face with what she believed to be the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. His black hair fell to his shoulders and his eyes were as black as coal, but glimmered like jewels. As for his body, dear lord, he was tall with a perfect build. And yet she could sense a shyness and a quietness about him, unlike Gar who radiated annoyance.

"W-Well, it's not my preferred way of going down the stairs," she said, trying to hide how bashful she felt right now in front of him. Some people just made you feel ashamed of you hideousness, and this Garth fellow was one of them. She did her best to avoid eye contact with him and kept her head low, making sure her hair covered most of her face.

"Sorry about that, Raven," Gar said, rubbing what was sure to be a bruise on his thigh. "I think I'll let you go down the stairs alone from now on." And that's when he saw something he never expected, at least not out of Raven. He saw her shyly avoiding looking at Garth. Now, he'd seen many a girl act this way around Garth, but he never ever expected to see Raven do the same. And he instantly felt enraged.

"So Raven, is it?" said Garth, holding out his hand to her. "I'm Garth, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," she said, so stunned that she forgot to act cold and indifferent to him.

"What happened to your foot?" he asked politely.

"Oh, I got in a small bicycle accident, that's all," she said, slightly blushing and quickly turning her attention back to her foot. It was then that her brain began to work again and she remembered who she was and that she was surrounded by other people. "Um, if you'll excuse me, I'm on a tea break." She said this with a slight hint of annoyance and quickly hopped out of there on her crutches.

"Do you need any help?" asked Garth.

"I think I've had enough help for today," she replied, going about her business.

"Besides, you couldn't help cuz you don't know where anything is," said Gar to Garth. If there was anyone Gar felt a rival to, it was Garth. The guy was basically perfect in every way.

"Maybe not, but I can usually find my way around a house pretty well," said Garth, who was used to Gar having an odd tone with him.

"Speaking of which, let's give you the grand tour!" said Vic. "You're gonna love it."

"I already saw that you have the ocean as a backyard, so I'm in love already," said Garth with a smile.

While the others gave Garth a tour of the house and the area Raven stayed in the kitchen making herself a cup of tea and half of a sandwich. She felt quite flustered and needed to relax. It wasn't every day she fell down the stairs and made herself look like a fool in front of an incredibly handsome guy.

"So since when do you go for the tall, dark, and handsome type?" Gar asked, crossing his arms.

It was then that she realized that he hadn't gone with the others to show his friend around. "What are you talking about?" she asked, doing her best to ignore him.

"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed. "You were practically drooling!"

"I swear you have some sort of brain condition," Raven sighed as she prepared her sandwich.

"Stop it!" he said, slamming his hands on the counter, his arms straight and his face serious. "You think that you can just call me dumb and I'll forget that you've fallen head over heels for that jerk? Well, let me tell you something, he gets the best looking ass thrown at him every hour on the hour so if you think you have even the slightest chance of getting with him just forget it! I've seen him turn down a model once! I swear, for all of the guys you just had to fall for, it had to be _him_? What the hell's so great about him? Well, if that's the kinda guy you go for then your standards are way too high."

Raven stared at him in silence for a few moments. He was out of breath and looked quite riled up. But, within a minute of his rant, he began to breathe a little slower and the red in his face disappeared. He actually looked pretty funny with a red face and green hair.

"Are you done?" she asked calmly.

His brow furrowed and he looked away from her. "Yes," he muttered.

Raven sighed and crossed her arms. "Okay, if this bothers you so much, I'll tell you the truth," she said. "Yes, I do find Garth to be attractive. Have I fallen for him? No. Do I intend on pursuing him? No. Do I think I have a chance with him? Of course not. Am I just as tired of you calling me ugly as you are of my calling you stupid? Yes. Does that satisfy you?"

Gar's frown turned into a pout and he shrugged. "I guess," he replied.

Raven rolled her eyes and poured the fresh tea into her cup. "Besides, what do you care if I like him or not?" she said. "It's pretty obvious to everyone in the world he'd never go for me anyway. Are you that jealous of him that you're upset that I find him attractive?"

Gar sighed and said, "You don't understand. The guy can do no wrong and I'm not over exaggerating like I usually do. He's smart, he's good looking, he gets all the chicks he wants, and everyone loves him. I do twice as much work making myself just as good as him and no one even cares!"

"Maybe you should stop trying so hard then," said Raven. "First impressions are important, you know. The first time I saw you I knew you were going to be trouble. Whereas when I saw your friend there I could tell he was very good natured. So ease up a little and you may have more luck winning people over."

"You should live by your own advice," Gar said with a slight chuckle. She gave him a look and he shut up. "Um, just so you know, I didn't really mean what I said about you not having a chance with him. And I don't really think you're ugly, even though I'm pretty sure you think I really am dumb."

"Help me with the tea, would you?" she replied, not believing a word he said. She grabbed her half a sandwich on a plate and made the awkward journey to the table. It wasn't easy to use crutches and carry anything, especially anything that wasn't stable. That was why she asked Gar to move her tea; that and she needed to change the subject somehow.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 17

The day had finally arrived. The Fourth of July! The early morning air was already very hot and humid, meaning that the day was going to be hard to tolerate if they didn't keep hydrated. They had four coolers set up full of ice and drinks already. It might've been early, but they were expecting their guests early. It was the only way for them to miss the traffic. All in all, there were to be seven guests total. The guys had invited Roy, Wally, and Garth (who'd already arrived) and the girls had invited Karen, Jen, Toni, and Tara. These were all friends from college.

"Alright, I think we're all set," said Vic. "I hope they remember to bring blowup mattresses with them or they're sleeping on the floor."

"Well one can use the couch," said Dick. "Of course, there's an empty bed up in Raven's room but I bet she's locking her door when she leaves."

"When is she leaving?" asked Kori.

"Soon," said Gar. "I could hear her packing when I came down."

"Why isn't she staying?" asked Garth.

"She has no interest in our day of enjoyment," said Kori.

"Really? That's too bad," said Garth. "I would've liked to get to know her."

"Why?" asked Gar, his voice growing dark.

"I don't know, it's just nice to get to know people," Garth shrugged innocently. "And I've barely seen her since I met her yesterday."

"She doesn't really like people," said Vic.

"_Very_ antisocial," said Dick.

"That's why she's gonna go stay at a hotel instead of just locking herself up in her room," said Gar. "Trust me, the less you get yourself involved with her the better."

"Hey, Gar, did you get the plastic knives down from your room?" asked Vic. "I can't find them anywhere."

"I thought I brought them down," said Gar. "I'll go check." And with that he headed upstairs.

It was just then that there was the sound of a car horn being honked again and again as well as shouting female voices. Kori's eyes brightened up and she smiled, exclaiming, "My friends have arrived!" The group headed out to see them.

All four doors of the car flew open and out stepped five young women. They all squealed with delight upon seeing Kori and ran to her, throwing their arms around her. It was needless to say that the men immediately realized that Kori hung around a very diverse and yet very attractive group of women.

"Friends, these are my…friends," said Kori and then she introduced them all to each other. Karen was a strong willed woman with rich cocoa colored skin and ebony colored hair that was perfectly done. Jen was a pale spitfire and dyed light pink hair. Toni looked bored with the whole affair and was also pale but with black hair and black makeup. Tara was innocent looking with long blond hair and sky blue eyes.

"Where's your bathroom?" asked Karen. "I've been holding it for the past hour."

"Come, I shall show you," said Kori. "And then I shall show you the rest of the house."

Raven finally made it to the bottom of the stairs with her suitcase and was relieved she hadn't fallen down them again. She'd luckily just made it out of her room as Gar had come up to go up to his. If she'd been a minute behind she'd have been stuck in her room waiting for him to do whatever it was he was doing.

She heard the front door open and looked around the corner to see who'd shown up. She saw that it was Kori's friends, and her slight acquaintances, from school. And then she saw a face that she thought she'd never see again. She was actually shocked that Kori had invited her. She quickly did an about face and went back up the stairs as quickly as she could, forgetting all about her suitcase. When she made it to the top she ran right into Gar who was holding the missing box of plastic knives.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" he chuckled. "You forget something?"

"Get out of my way," she said and pushed him aside. She hopped to her door, unlocked it, jumped inside, and locked it again.

"…okay," said Gar, scratching his head. He shrugged and headed downstairs. He could hear the chatter of mostly women, so that meant Kori's friends must've been there. He felt his other persona creep up and decided to woo as many of these girls as he could, before Garth could. He practically jumped down the full length of the stairs and landed at the bottom. "Found 'em!" he announced proudly.

The whole group downstairs paused and looked as the strange green haired man leapt out from the stairway. He smiled his signature smile and took a good look at the new girls in the house. And then he saw her. The moment they made eye contact his stomach dropped and a coy smile graced her lips.

"Holy… shit," was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

"Gar, is that you?" said Tara, walking towards him.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, looking like he was in shock.

"I'm friends with Kori," said Tara. "I can't believe this! What a small world." She went over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Gar froze up as he felt her hug him and he quickly looked over to his friends, begging them for help.

"Uh, hey, let's show you guys the rest of the house," said Vic, quickly going over to Gar and Tara and pulling her away. "Gar, why don't you go put the knives outside."

"Yeah, good idea," said Gar and he stiffly walked towards the glass sliding door.

He went outside and set the box down next to a large table that had been set up. He then walked over to one of the lawn chairs and took a seat. He couldn't believe that she was here. And she was going to be here all day. Hell, she was going to be sleeping here! What was he going to do? He wasn't sure. But he knew one thing, if she got him alone he'd be done for.

Raven looked out her window and saw the group making their way around the house. Everyone looked happy enough, but she really didn't care. Her eyes focused in on the blond. How was she going to get out of the house if she was around? Her still injured ankle was really a hindrance now. She didn't want to admit it, but if she was going to survive she'd need to ask for help. But from whom?

That was when she noticed that Gar wasn't with the wandering group. She couldn't imagine him not flirting with all of the women. It was then that she heard someone running up the stairs. By process of elimination she knew that it was the very green haired man she'd been thinking about. She went over to her door and cracked it open. She looked through and was surprised to see that Gar was in the bathroom, standing over the sink. He seemed to be talking to himself, which was odd even for him.

"Just don't look her in the eye, Logan," he said to himself. "Ignore her, keep her away from you, do everything you can. You don't need to go through this again."

She wasn't sure if she should interrupt him or not, but she did need his help while everyone was outside. She opened her door a little wider and cleared her throat to get his attention. He immediately jumped and looked towards her room.

"Oh, uh, hi," he said, feeling a little embarrassed. "You haven't left yet?"

"I don't think I can leave," Raven sighed. "Unfortunately, Kori invited somebody I have a bad past with and I don't want her to see me."

"An ex-girlfriend, huh?" said Gar.

"No," said Raven, rolling her eyes. "She wasn't even an acquaintance of mine. Look, I don't want to go into it. Can you help me?"

"What with?" asked Gar.

"My suitcase with everything I need is at the bottom of the stairs," she said. "Can you get it for me? I really don't want her to see me and by the time I make it down the stairs she'll probably come back in the house."

"Sure, no problem," said Gar and he ran down the stairs. A second later he was back up the stairs with her suitcase. "Here you go."

"Thank you," she said, taking it. "I owe you one. So why aren't you out there showing the girls around?"

"Well you're not gonna believe this but one of them is my ex," said Gar. "So I'm gonna try to avoid her as much as possible."

"Looks like we've both had our day ruined," said Raven. "Well I'll be in here if you need me. And you better not need me."

"Only if I need a place to hide," he said with a small smile. "See you later."

"Bye," she said, wheeled her suitcase in, and closed the door.

Gar sighed and knew that he had to get back to the group. He headed down the stairs and did his best to mentally prepare himself for seeing Tara again. It was then that he heard someone honking very annoyingly in the driveway. He could only deduce that it had to be his friends.

He ran outside and saw a fourth car parked in the driveway. The doors flew open and out stepped two young men. The other group arrived and the air erupted into sounds of greetings and introductions.

"I can't believe you guys actually found this place!" Vic laughed.

"We almost didn't," said Wally. His spiked up red hair and freckles made him look sweet and innocent, but it was clear he could be a wiseass. "Roy's the slowest driver I've ever met. If you'd let me behind the wheel we would've been here an hour ago.

"And you would've gotten another speeding ticket!" said Roy. His short red hair seemed to be the only difference between him and Dick, what with his sunglasses and serious look. "I think four is enough."

"Well you're here and now the party can finally start!" said Gar.

"You better have drinks," said Wally, wiping his forehead. "Roy broke our air conditioner half way here."

"I did not!" said Roy, steaming.

"Gar did the same thing to us!" Vic laughed.

"I did not!" said Gar.

"Come on, let's move to the back," said Dick.

The group moved to the beach and the party finally got underway. Before the girls knew what was happening the guys had stripped down to their bathing suits and ran into the surf. They began tackling each other, throwing a football and a Frisbee around, and doing stupid stunts to show off. The women stayed on the shore, for now, and decided to catch up on what had been happening in their lives lately.

After unpacking her suitcase, Raven sat and watched out the window. She saw that the men were all in the water while the girls chatted on shore. She didn't know why, and she wasn't happy about it, but her eyes always went straight to Gar. And there he was, his shirt off, body glistening with the saltwater of the ocean. She felt her heart race a little and she scolded herself. But among the feelings of confusion and disgust was something else now; an almost sad, longing feeling.

Her mind then went back to the day before when Gar had gotten so upset at her for falling for Garth. He sure was a hard one to figure out. Sometimes he was like a child, sometimes he was very sweet, sometimes he acted like a pig, sometimes he behaved like an idiot, sometimes he was downright mean, and sometimes he acted as if he were jealous. How many different sides could a person have?

She looked down at the girls and tried to figure out which one could've been his ex. She'd known most of them throughout all of college, so how could any of them know Gar? Karen was far too serious and strong for him, that was for sure. Jen was a bad girl and, as much as a troublemaker Gar could be, he wasn't nearly near her level. Toni certainly wasn't his type, what with her emo-like lifestyle. So that only left one person; Tara. She'd only known her their senior year, since she was a transfer. If she had to put her money on any of them, it'd be her. The fact that she could see him actively avoiding her was also a pretty good sign.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 18

The sun began to set and the day had been a complete success. The group had spent the entire day playing in the water, eating, catching up, and flirting shamelessly. And now that the sky was beginning to darken it was almost time for the second half of the party; a bonfire and fireworks.

Raven sat up in her room feeling quite miserable. Because of the noise from the party she hadn't been able to get any writing done. She'd put in her earplugs but the sound of Vic's suped up stereo in his car made them pointless even with the windows shut. She had the freedom to wander about the second floor, but she couldn't go downstairs to even get a drink. She was now starving and dying of thirst; the bathroom tap water wasn't exactly tasty.

There came a knock on her door and she jumped. No one had come up to check on her all day. Oddly, she wished someone had so she could at least get a decent glass of water and maybe some crackers. She moved away from the window, just in case they'd been able to see her, and said, "Who is it?"

"It's Gar," he said. "I've got something for you."

"Fine, come in," she said, grabbing a book and opening it.

The door opened and Gar entered, a smile on his face. In his hands was a cold soda fresh from the cooler and a hotdog. "I figured you might be hungry or something," he said.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, by you're my hero," she said, looking at the cold soda longingly.

Gar laughed and brought them over to her. She grabbed the soda, opened it, and downed most of it in one go. She then picked up the hotdog and took a bite. "I hope you don't mind tofu," he added as she began to eat the 'hotdog'.

Her face went queer as the taste of the tofudog coated her taste buds. She cringed and forced herself to swallow. She then shuddered and said, "As horrible as this tastes, I'm too hungry to be picky."

"Really? Maybe I should starve you more often so you'll try more of my food!" he said with a big smile.

"Don't even think about it," she warned. "So how's the party going?"

"Fine," Gar shrugged. "It'd be cool if you could join us."

"I'd rather stay up here like a prisoner," said Raven, taking another sip of her soda. "So any encounters with the ex?"

"Luckily she seems to have taken to Garth," said Gar. "And, for once, I totally don't mind. He can have her for all I care."

"May I ask which one she is?" she asked.

"Tara," he said.

"I'm guessing she went to your college before she transferred to mine," she said.

"Yup," he said. "We were both science majors so we saw each other a lot. I was zoology and she was geology."

"May I ask what happened between you?" she asked. She was really curious to hear what Tara had done to him.

"Well, while we were going out she was secretly having an affair with one of our professors to get good grades," said Gar, taking a seat on her bed. "Evidently he said that if she didn't do as he said he'd fail her. Then when he found out about me he got jealous and told her to get me kicked out of school. So one night she put a loaded gun in my backpack and when I went to my classes the next day she alerted the campus police and I got caught. I'll tell ya, that had to be one of the scariest moments of my life. I was almost put in jail!"

"How'd you get out of it?" asked Raven, shocked that the blond could go to such lengths for her own benefits.

"Tara confessed at literally the last second," said Gar. "She exposed our professor and he got his teaching license revoked. And she was put on probation, sentenced to two hundred hours of community service, and was transferred out of our school to yours."

"I can't believe she didn't go to jail," said Raven.

"Don't you know?" he said in a fake happy voice. "Blonds don't have to go to jail. They're too pretty." She could hear the bitterness in his voice. "Well, anyway, she said she was sorry and wanted us to stay together, but there was no way I was gonna stay with her after that. I don't think I can ever trust her again."

"If you feel so strongly then why do you need to give yourself a pep talk before seeing her so you don't fall for her again?" she asked.

"I don't know, she's got this way about her," said Gar. "It's like, when I'm near her I get put under a spell and I can't think right. I've almost gotten back with her two times. If it hadn't been Vic and Dick rescuing me at the last moment I'd probably be with her and she might've hired a hit man to kill me by now."

Raven took all of this in and concluded that there was something very wrong with Tara. In a way, she felt bad for her. But, in another way, she just wanted the blond to drop off of the face of the Earth.

"So, which one of the girls do you have bad blood with?" Gar asked.

"None of your business," said Raven. She really didn't want Gar to know that they both despised the same girl. She didn't want there to be a scene that night and Gar looked like he was just looking for a reason to cause one.

"Come on, I told you about my horrific past with Tara," said Gar. "You owe me a little history lesson."

"Look I just don't want to get into it," said Raven.

"Well it must've been pretty bad for you to actually be scared of her," said Gar.

"I'm _not_ scared of her," Raven said firmly. "I'm just scared of what might happen if we came face to face. I'm not going to ruin your Independence Day party. I may disclose the information at a later date, but I'm not going to go into it today."

"Okay, that sounds cool," said Gar. "So you're sure you don't wanna come join us? You should at least come and say hello. I mean, everyone knows you're up here."

"Everyone?" asked Raven.

"Yeah, everyone," said Gar. "And I know that my buddies would love to meet you, especially after the stories we've told."

"You've been talking about me?" said Raven.

"Did you think we were gonna pretend you don't exist?" he laughed.

"I'd prefer that," said Raven, massaging her temples. If Tara knew she was here then she'd have to be extra careful now.

"My friends Wally and Roy are really interested in meeting you," said Gar. "And Garth's down there. Come on, come say hello just for a second."

"If I do that then I risk the chance of being seen by the person I've been avoiding all day," said Raven.

"Well if you told me which one she is then I'd keep you away from her," said Gar.

"Not going to happen," said Raven.

Gar sighed and stood up. "Fine," he said. "Do you need anything else before I rejoin everyone?"

"No," she said. "Thank you for the drink and food."

"No problem," he said and opened the door. He was about to step through when he ended up face to face with Tara.

"Oh, sorry, I was looking for the upstairs bathroom," she said. Gar froze and Raven knew she'd been caught. Tara looked right inside of the room and saw her sitting on her bed.

"T-The bathroom's on the other side of the hall," said Gar, remembering that he could move and talk in her presence.

"Well well, who do we have here?" asked Tara with a smile and a wave to Raven.

"Oh, that's Raven," said Gar, who still had no clue that the two women knew each other.

"Hi," Tara said sweetly. "You know, you should join the party. After all of the stories I've heard about you I think you could make this a night to remember."

"The bathroom's that way," said Gar harshly and he pointed to the door at the other end of the hall.

"Oh was I interrupting something?" asked Tara innocently.

"No and even if you were it'd be none of your business," said Gar.

Tara gave them both a slightly smug look and then said, "Okay, I'm going." She walked down the hallway, making sure to sway her narrow hips in an exaggerating fashion, and then went into the bathroom.

Once she was gone, Gar looked physically relieved. He let out a long breath and leaned against Raven's still open door. Raven couldn't believe what a hold Tara had on him. Even though he'd acted all cold and angry towards her, she could sense the sexual tension that instantly exploded between the two. He was right; she did put some sort of spell on him.

She then realized that Tara knew where she was now. That meant the safest place for her to be was in a group of people, rather than alone. She couldn't believe what she was going to have to do now.

"Gar?" she said.

"Yeah?" he replied, still looking a bit shaky from his encounter.

"I think I'll say hello to everyone," she sighed and swung her legs off of her bed.

"Really?" he said, quite surprised. "Aren't you worried about that girl seeing you?"

"Well, if everyone knows I'm up here then I'd be safer in a crowd than all alone," said Raven.

"Why don't you just lock your door?" asked Gar.

"I don't trust her not to break it down," said Raven.

"Whoa," said Gar. "Well, let's go then." Raven got on her one good foot and started to hop towards the door. "Uh, you're not gonna wear that, are you?"

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Everyone's wearing red, white, and blue today!" said Gar. "You've gotta put on something a little patriotic."

"I don't own anything patriotic," said Raven.

"Oh, yes you do," said Gar with a smirk. "Where are those barrettes I bought you?"

"You're actually going to make me wear those?" she asked.

"Yup," he smiled.

Raven sighed and went to her dresser. She grabbed the barrettes and placed them in her hair. "There, happy?" she said and hopped back towards the door. She nearly lost her balance and grabbed onto him for support for a moment. Being so close to him she could smell his cologne and her heart raced. He actually smelled nice for once. She quickly corrected herself and continued on her way towards the stairs with him right behind him. They both wanted to get down the stairs before Tara came out of the bathroom.

The moment Raven stepped outside the party seemed to go quiet. All eyes were on her and she felt incredibly awkward in front of them. Of course, all of the girls came over to her to say how glad they were to see her and ask how she was and if her ankle was doing alright, since they'd been informed on her accident. As for the men, they weren't really sure what to think of her.

"How the hell did you get her to come down?" asked Vic.

"I don't know," Gar shrugged. "I asked her a couple times and she said no then suddenly she wanted to say hi to everyone."

"Maybe she got bored up there," said Dick.

"She's been watching us the whole time," said Garth. "Maybe she saw us having a good time and decided to join us."

"Well, whatever the reason, we've gotta keep her down here," said Vic. "Talking to people has gotta be good for her in some way."

"Take her crutches away from her," said Gar. "She can't hop very fast on the sand."

"That's a good point," said Dick. "But who can we get to take them away from her without her noticing?"

The group thought and then all at once said, "Wally!"


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 19

There came a great cheer as the bonfire lit up and began to burn. Dick had been smart enough to put it near the water and away from the house, since it was so hot. That way they could enjoy it but not overheat since it was still quite warm out. Now that it was night they decided to break out the liquor. They'd all agreed that they should wait to drink until later, that way no one got too drunk too fast.

Gar stood near the shed, drinking a beer, admiring the bonfire, and taking a break from all of his friends. He zoned in on Raven, who was stuck sitting in a lawn chair, since her crutches had 'mysteriously' disappeared. And there was Garth, laughing and talking with her. Gar felt that odd anger ignite inside of him, but he did his best to suppress it. He knew that Garth wouldn't actually make a move on her…not that he cared if he did. He sighed and took another sip of his beer.

"Hey, Gar," came a sweet voice. He turned his head and there stood Tara.

He frowned and said, "What do you want?"

"To talk, maybe?" she said.

"No thanks," he said, drinking the rest of his beer.

"Please? I want to talk to you," she said. "Why do you keep avoiding me?"

"Why do you think?" he snapped at her.

"I know you're still mad at me, but don't you think you should let it go?" she asked.

"Let it go?" said Gar, outraged.

"You said you forgave me the last time we talked, remember?" said Tara.

"That's cuz you did your stupid mind control thing with me and I almost fell for it again," said Gar. "And I'm not gonna let you do that to me anymore. Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because I love you!" said Tara.

"Well I don't love you!" said Gar.

"Yes you do!" Tara cried. "I know you do, deep down inside."

"Tara, you were the worst thing that ever happened to me!" said Gar.

Tara fought back tears and tried to approach him. "You don't really mean that," she said. "Don't you remember what it was like when we were together? How much fun we had? You're going to say that it meant nothing to you?"

"No, but I know it meant nothing to you," said Gar.

"It meant everything to me!" Tara cried. "Do you think I wanted to fuck that prick to get good grades? Do you think I didn't feel cheap and dirty afterwards? Do you think it was easy for me to do all of that and then be with you as if everything was alright? It killed me that I had to do that! And I know that it was my own fault, but I didn't know what else to do. As much as you suffered I suffered twice as much! Don't you think I deserve a second chance, Gar? Don't you think I deserve to make things right?"

Gar looked down at the sand, rotating his empty beer bottle in his hand. "I don't wanna get hurt again," he said. "Especially not by you."

"I won't hurt you," said Tara, going even closer to him. "I could never hurt you again. I promise." She then gently turned his head towards her and softly placed her lips on his.

Gar knew that this was wrong, but her touch had paralyzed him. And her kisses had always been sinfully sweet. Before he could stop himself or even realize what was happening he had his arms wrapped around her waist and had brought her even closer. He couldn't deny that he'd missed doing this, especially with her. He responded to her kisses and when he did she kissed him even deeper and began to run her hands all over his body. She dragged him to a more hidden side of the shed and there they continued in private.

Raven had never felt so bored in her entire life. Garth was a great guy and all, but she felt no chemistry with him. And as for the other young men, she felt it'd be best if she just avoided eye contact with them. She was going to kill whoever stole her crutches.

"You sure you don't want a drink?" Garth asked her.

"Yes," she replied. "I don't drink alcohol."

"Yeah, I barely touch the stuff," said Garth. "So why'd you decide to come down and join us?"

"I'm not really sure," she lied with a shrug. "I guess all of the noise you all were making just got the better of me and I figured I might as well embrace it then try to ignore it."

"Garth, glow in the dark Frisbee!" Wally shouted. "Come on!"

"Okay," said Garth. "You don't mind, do you?"

"No, please, go," she said, glad to be rid of him. He smiled and went off. She sighed and slumped in her chair. She hated parties, no matter what the occasion. She just didn't like people; that was the simple truth. She didn't like people and most of them didn't like her.

It was then she realized that, for the first time since she'd come down, no one was paying attention to her. Relieved, she decided to get out of there. She'd grab the scooter and go for a ride, maybe to a spot further down on the beach. She knew she wouldn't be missed and they'd figure out she'd taken the scooter when they found it missing.

She slowly got to her good foot and began to make her way towards the shed, where the scooter sat parked with the helmet. The sand was very unstable and she nearly fell more than five times on her way. In the end, she'd grabbed a chair and used it as a walker. For all she knew one of those idiots might've thrown her crutches into the bonfire.

She made it to the shed and the scooter. Relieved, she threw the chair aside and grabbed the helmet. As she put it on she began to hear some odd sounds coming from nearby. Heavy breathing, slight moans, and what sounded like kissing. As grossed out as she was, her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to see who it was. She knew Dick and Kori knew better than to do anything so out in the open, so who could it be?

Her head slowly and carefully peered around the side of the shed and there she saw them. Gar had Tara pushed up against the shed and was making out with her like there was no tomorrow. Raven was absolutely shocked by the sight and quickly pulled her head back. She felt her stomach go queasy and for a moment she felt as if she were going to throw up. But she felt something else within her begin to ache. Something within her chest that made her feel even sicker.

She finished putting her helmet on and then jumped onto the scooter. She turned it on, not caring that it would make so much noise the two would realize that she was there, and took off. She felt so sick and upset she could barely see straight. After all she'd done to him, he was making out with her? Was he really that weak minded that he couldn't control himself around her? _Her_? She truly despised people.

The sound of the scooter starting up did startled both Gar and Tara and they paused for a moment to see who was taking the scooter. They looked around the corner and saw Raven riding off into the darkness. Seeing her triggered something in Gar's brain and he realized what he'd been doing.

"Hey, a scooter," said Tara. "Didn't you always want a scooter?"

"Uh, yeah, I rented it for the summer," he said.

"Then why's she taking it out?" asked Tara.

"Well, I got it for the two of us," said Gar. "She needed something to ride while her ankle's busted so I share it with her."

"Aw, you're so sweet," Tara smiled and began kissing him again.

This time, Gar pulled away from her. "Uh, Tara, look," he said, holding her back. "Um…I need to think, okay?"

"Think? Think about what?" she asked.

"Just, give me a minute, okay?" he said and walked away. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. When Vic and Dick found out he was going to be in _big_ trouble. And why had Raven left the party? Had something happened? Maybe it was that girl she'd been trying to avoid. He saw Kori and the other girls and decided to go talk to them.

"Oh, Garfield, there you are," said Kori. "The other men are playing the Frisbee and they were looking for you."

"I was kinda busy," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Hey, I hope you don't mind me asking, but which one of you did Raven have a tiff with?"

"She's had a tiff with all of us," Jen laughed.

"I mean a big one," said Gar. "One that would make her stay locked up in her room for most of the day."

"Ah, that'd be Tara," said Karen.

"Tara?" said Gar, surprised. "Are you sure?"

"What kind of a question is that?" said Karen. "Of course I'm sure! Hell, we didn't even want to bring her but she insisted on coming since she got an invite."

"I thought that perhaps the two of them could make up," said Kori with a nervous smile.

"After what happened, do you really think Raven could forgive her?" asked Toni. "I don't think I ever could."

"What happened?" asked Gar curiously. "I asked Raven, but she wouldn't tell me. At least, not today. But I wanna know."

Jen, who had no clue that Gar and Tara had a history together, had no problem telling him everything. "Well, when Tara transferred in she had the room in between me and Toni's and Raven and Kori's. She had guys over every single night! None of us could get any sleep. And then, for some reason, she decided to make Raven's life a living Hell. It was so random, I swear it could've been any of us. Anyway, she spread rumors around the entire campus that Raven was a voodoo witch and that she was a lesbian and a slutty one at that. And if that wasn't enough she even told everyone about Raven's bad family history. Of course when we confronted her about it she swore that she wasn't the one who started the rumors or revealed Raven's past."

"Well…maybe she wasn't," said Gar.

"Oh, she was," said Karen. "We asked everyone who was talking about Raven where they'd gotten their information and they all said that it was from Tara. Not only that, she was posting things online that were linked right to her FacePage. She even started a club devoted to slandering Raven's name. I don't know why she decided to do it to her, but she was out for the jugular."

"And when Raven found out about all of this she went to Tara to straighten things out," said Jen. "She told her to stop spreading lies about her and to tell everyone that she was making it all up."

"And what happened?" asked Gar.

"The next day we were informed Raven had been taken to the hospital," said Toni.

"They got into a fight?" said Gar.

"I wouldn't call it a fight," said Karen. "Tara didn't have a scratch on her. Poor Raven was stuck in the hospital for two weeks. Hell, they thought she was going to have brain damage! How she survived that beating I'll never know."

"And Raven refused to press charges," said Jen. "If it had been me I'd have made sure that bitch never saw daylight outside of prison again."

"So how could you guys be friends with her after all of this happened?" asked Gar.

"We weren't," said Jen. "And we still aren't. Like I said, the only reason she's here is because of Kori."

"I was hoping we could all become friends again," said Kori.

"You're too optimistic," said Toni.

"Anyway, that's the story," said Jen. "Trust me, stay away from Tara. I don't even want to get into the stuff I've heard about her."

"Yeah," said Gar, trying to wrap around all of the information he'd been given. "I'll keep that in mind."


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 20

Tara opened a wine cooler and took a long sip. She felt quite good tonight. She'd come to the party with a plan in mind, but when she'd seen Gar she decided to change things. She was going to teach Raven a thing or two, but decided her time would be better spent getting Gar back once and for all. She looked around for him and found him finally walking towards her. She smiled and took another sip. Now it was time to seal the deal.

"Hey, you done thinking?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think I am," he said.

"Good, then let's go behind the shed again," she said, taking his hand. "We can have some fun back there."

"No," said Gar, pulling his hand back.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked, confused.

"Tara, can I ask you some questions?" he asked.

"Uh, sure," she said with a shrug.

"You know Raven, right?" he continued. "Did you spread lies about her in college?"

"Spread lies?" she said. "Gar, who've you been talking to?"

"What does it matter?" he said. "Why would you do that to someone?"

"I haven't done anything to anyone!" she said.

"Stop lying to me!" he said.

"I'm not lying!" she said.

"Yes, you are!" he said. "How could you be so cruel to someone for no reason? And why did you nearly kill her?"

Tara's eyes went dark and she hissed, "Who said that it was for no reason?"

"So… you _did_ attack her," he said. "What the hell is wrong with you, Tara?"

"She deserved it," said Tara.

"No one deserves to be beaten!" said Gar. "What could she have possibly done that would make you think that was okay?"

"You have no idea what it was like to be around her," Tara spat. "She was always talking like she was better than me. She always got perfect grades and all the guys wanted her cuz she was what they couldn't have. And what did she do? She turned them all down! What else could I do but tell everyone that she's a lesbian? I mean, she's gotta be! And then I found out about her family and I felt that everyone deserved to know for their own safety. I mean, you know about her father right? He's a mob boss! And I'm not exaggerating, he's an actual mob boss. You can look him up online if you want."

Gar had been informed that Raven's father dealt with illegal activities but he hadn't known he was a full blown mob boss. But he didn't care. "So what?" he said. "She doesn't have contact with him so what does it matter?"

"Are you that stupid?" said Tara. "That bitch has connections and could get everyone killed! Of course everyone had to know. And then suddenly the emotionless perfect witch had feelings and wanted me to apologize. I shouldn't have to apologize for outing her and keeping the school safe!"

"So you beat the shit out of her?" said Gar. "Do you think that makes it right? There's no excuse for what you did!"

"If she didn't like it then she should've stopped me!" said Tara. "Besides, what do you care?"

"What do I care?" said Gar. "She's a human being, Tara! It doesn't matter what she did or didn't do, you can't put your hands on someone else accept in defense! And don't you dare tell me that you were defending yourself."

Tara was about to yell at him again, but decided it was time to take this in a different direction. "Okay, I did something wrong," she said, calming down. "But that's all behind me. Why the hell do you think I came here? Kori wants me to make up with Raven and that's just what I wanna do. I was acting like a child back then but I've matured and I'm ready to move on with my life." She got closer to him and took his hands. "Gar, I'm different now. I've learned from my mistakes. Do you really think I should ask forgiveness for learning?"

Gar shook his head and looked at her with disgust. "No, Tara, you haven't changed at all," he said. "You're the same selfish brat you always were. And know that I know all of this I really never want to see you again." And with that he turned around and walked away from her.

Tara stood there, dumbfounded. But that soon turned into anger. She stomped the ground and walked off in a huff. So, this was all Raven's fault, once more. Well, this time she was going to finish the job. Raven would never interfere with her life ever again.

As for Gar, he walked right over to his friends who were still playing Frisbee. He always felt relieved when he turned Tara down, but he still didn't feel very good. Not now that he knew what she'd done to Raven.

"Hey, there you are!" said Vic.

"Where've you been?" said Roy. "We've been playing with uneven teams!"

"I was just taking care of something," said Gar. "I need you guys to be on the lookout for Tara at all times, okay?"

"Oh no," said Dick. "You weren't talking to her, were you?"

"Trust me, I'm done with her," said Gar. "And I mean it this time."

"Gar, you need to get a restraining order against her!" said Dick. "It's the only way to keep her away from you."

"Well help me get one, then," said Gar. "I really don't wanna see her again, ever."

Raven pulled into the driveway and rolled all the way up to the shed. She would've stayed out longer if not for the fact that the gas tank was nearly empty and she couldn't risk the chance of running out and being stuck immobile in the middle of nowhere. She hopped off of the scooter and took off the helmet. It looked as if no one had missed her, so she decided to go back inside.

Slowly she began to hop her way to the front door. She really missed her horrid crutches right now. As uncomfortable as they were, they sure made her life easier. She couldn't wait until her ankle was finally healed. Luckily, she was usually a fast healer so she might be able to get the cast off by the next week.

"You!" came a voice.

Raven nearly fell upon hearing herself being addressed. She carefully turned and there stood Tara, fuming. She got a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"What do you want, Tara?" Raven sighed.

"You think you can just have it all, don't you?" said Tara, advancing towards her.

"Excuse me?" said a confused Raven.

"Everyone always has to feel sorry for you and I'm looked at like the bitch," said Tara.

"Well, that would be because you are a bitch," said Raven evenly.

"Shut up!" Tara screamed and pushed her. Raven lost balance and fell onto the hard pavement. "I was finally gonna get him back! He was gonna be mine again! But you told him that I made your life hell in college and now he hates me again! It's all your fault!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Raven. "I didn't tell him anything!"

"Like hell you didn't!" said Tara.

"I swear, I didn't tell him a thing," said Raven. "Because I knew you'd probably find out and come after me."

"That's a lie!" said Tara.

"Why would I risk having you leave me for dead again?" said Raven.

"Well I'm not gonna leave you for dead this time," said Tara. "I'm gonna kill you!"

A high pitched whistle filled the air and was followed by a boom as the first firework exploded. Everyone cheered and waited for the next one as they sat in the beach chairs. Dick had thought this all out very carefully and knew exactly what he was doing. He waited just the right amount of time and lit another. It whizzed into the air and exploded into a beautiful ball of colors.

"Wow, Dick wasn't messing around when he got the fireworks, huh?" Vic chuckled.

"Oh, they are most beautiful!" said Kori, clapping.

"I hope your neighbors don't mind," said Karen.

"Mind? The Fourth of July is the only night of the year that you can light up fireworks and everyone cheers!" said Gar.

"Hey am I the only one who hears screams?" said Roy.

"What kind of screams?" asked Garth.

"Like fighting screams," said Roy.

Everyone concentrated and tried to hear what Roy was hearing. Another one exploded and wilted into what looked almost like a weeping willow. In the distance they could hear other fireworks exploding. It seemed as if everyone had the same idea for that night. This wasn't helping the group to hear very well. And then, for four seconds, there was a good silence. That's when they heard the screams that Roy was talking about.

"It sounds like it's coming from the driveway," said Wally.

Everyone got up and went to see what was going on. Poor Dick watched as everyone left their seats and ran away and wondered if he'd done something wrong. Luckily he hadn't lit another firework yet and went to see where everyone was going.

The group walked over to the driveway and was shocked by what they saw. Tara had Raven on the ground, was sitting on top of her, and was beating the hell out of her. She was screaming some pretty nasty obscenities and seemed to have gone mad. And poor Raven was attempting to protect herself, but she certainly wasn't fighting back. Gar was the first to react. He ran over to them, grabbed Tara, and pulled her off of Raven.

"Let me go!" Tara screamed.

"What the fuck's wrong with you?" Gar screamed back and tossed her aside. He then ran over to Raven, where the girls already were.

"What the hell happened?" asked Vic.

"She's a fucking bitch!" screamed Tara. "She ruins everything!" Garth quickly stepped in and held her back from jumping on Raven again.

"Oh Raven, are you okay?" asked Kori, helping Raven to sit up.

"Do I look okay?" said Raven.

"God, look at your face?" said Gar.

"Her face was always that fucking ugly!" yelled Tara as Garth and Dick dragged her away from the situation.

"Are you okay?" asked Karen. "Do you think you need to go to the hospital?"

"No, just help me up," she said.

They helped her to her foot and assisted in getting her into the house. Once inside she was sat down on the couch and they ran around to help clean her up. She was covered in scratches, bruises, and her whole face was quite swollen.

"Here's some ice," said Toni, giving Raven a baggy full of ice to put on her swollen left eye.

"Thanks," said Raven and she gingerly put the ice on her shiner. "Gar?"

"Yes?" he said.

"What the hell did you tell Tara?" she practically screamed. "And who the hell told you about her and I in college?" Both Gar and the girls looked away shamefully.

"Sorry, Raven, but he asked," said Jen with a shrug. "I didn't know that he and Tara knew each other until afterwards. If I'd known I wouldn't have told him."

"And I didn't think she'd attack you," said Gar. "And, even if she did, I thought you'd defend yourself."

"Defend herself?" said Karen. "She can't defend herself! Not physically, anyway."

"What? What're you talking about?" said Gar.

"Yeah, she's threatened to kill us a bunch of times," said Vic.

"You guys don't know?" said Toni. "Raven, you didn't tell them?"

"No and I didn't tell them for a reason," growled Raven, whose cover was slowly being blown.

"Didn't tell us what?" asked Gar.

There was a silence in the room as they all waited for Raven to speak.

"She is a pacifist," said Kori.

"Kori!" said Raven.

"I am sorry, you were taking too long," said Kori apologetically, who hated awkward silences like the one that had just passed.

"A pacifist?" said Gar. "So, you don't believe in fighting?"

"I don't believe in physical fighting," said Raven. "And that includes defending myself."

"So that's why you let her beat you up?" said Gar.

"I'm a very serious pacifist," Raven said with a sigh.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 21

Dick came into the house and said, "Raven, do you want to press charges against Tara?"

"No, that's okay," she said.

"You're not gonna have her arrested?!" said Gar. "Are you nuts?! Look what she did to you!"

"Stay out of this," she snapped at him. She then turned back to Dick and said, "Just get her out of here."

"Are you sure?" said Dick. "I mean, I can make a call or two and-"

"No," Raven said firmly. "I don't want the police involved."

Dick sighed and said, "Alright. I'll get her out of here as soon as possible."

"Raven, you've got to get a restraining order against her," said Karen. "If you don't she's just going to keep coming after you."

"I know, I just… I don't want to go to the police," said Raven. "Now let's drop the subject and someone get me some bandages."

While Raven was tending to her wounds Vic and Dick were giving Tara a ride to the bus station to send her home. And while all of that was going on the others decided to get their beds set up. None of them were planning on going to bed, in fact they were going to go see the fireworks that were taking place downtown, but they figured it'd be nice to get it all done while they were awake and had the time.

An hour later Tara was on her way home and everyone else was ready to get on with the party. Well, everyone except for Raven who had had enough of this party. She got herself comfortable on the couch and waited for everyone to leave. As she waited she saw Gar walk over. He gave her a light smile and sat down next to her.

"So, how're you doing?" he asked.

"Fine," she said simply.

"You really don't look as bad as you probably feel," he said.

"I doubt that," she scoffed.

"Alright, you look like a mess," he said with a light chuckle. "But, it's nothing permanent. You're lucky she didn't put you in the hospital again."

"I know," she said. "For someone so skinny she sure can do some damage."

"The fact that you don't defend yourself helps," Gar added.

"True," said Raven. "So, are you doing downtown?"

"Nah," he said with a slight shrug and shaking his head. "I'd rather stay here and keep you company."

"Thanks, but the only company I'd like is silence," she said.

"I can be silent," he said.

"I doubt that," she said, a soft chuckle coating her words. "Anyway, you should go and see the fireworks. The Fourth of July only comes once a year so you should enjoy it."

"I would if I knew that you'd do the same," he said. "I mean, just cuz you got beat up doesn't mean you should stay inside and not enjoy the rest of the night."

"I'll enjoy it plenty if I can be here all alone," she said.

"Well, you're not gonna be alone, cuz I'm staying," said Gar.

"Why?" she asked. "I mean, why would you choose to stay here rather than go downtown with your friends?"

"Because I wanna talk to you," he said.

"About what?" she asked.

Gar never answered because Kori walked over and said, "We are leaving. Are you joining us, Garfield?"

"No, I'm gonna hang out here," he said with a smile. "You guys go ahead."

"Oh, alright," said Kori, a little surprised. "We shall return later."

"Don't get into too much trouble," Gar called after her as she headed towards the door where everyone was waiting to leave.

"Same goes for you two," said Vic.

"I've had enough trouble for one night, thank you," said Raven.

"Keep an eye on the bonfire," said Dick. "It's smoldering."

"Will do," said Gar and with that the group left. "Jeez, it's like we're a couple of children or something."

"Well I'm immobile and you've got the attention span of a fly, so I think they've got a good reason to worry," said Raven. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"A couple of things, actually," he said. "You wanna go outside? It's a really nice night and we might be able to see the fireworks from the beach."

"If you can find my crutches I will," she said. "And I'd also like to know which one of you stole them and why."

"We wanted you to stay and hang out with us so we had Wally steal them," said Gar with a nervous smile. "I honestly don't know where they are. But, I'll help you walk out there. I mean, between the two of us we've got three legs. I think we can do it."

"Do we really have to go outside?" she asked, almost in a whine.

"Come on, the salt air will do you good," said Gar, standing up.

Raven sighed and said, "Fine."

He held his hands out to her and helped her to her foot. They held onto each other and slowly began to move across the room. As they moved both couldn't help but feel odd about being so close. And, strangely, neither spoke a word as they moved.

Raven felt her heart race and that godforsaken blush return. Their skin was actually touching and this realization made her palms sweat. She could smell his distinct cologne as well as a soft layer of his sweat of the day. She knew she'd be lying if she said it did nothing for her. And his touch was gently yet firm. He knew that she was covered in bruises and scratches, but he also knew that if he held her too softly he wouldn't be able to support her properly. She bit her bottom lip and tried to concentrate on making it out to the beach.

Gar could feel his other personality trying to break through, but he held it back. He knew that this wasn't the time to be a pig and try to flirt with her or feel her up a little while she was so vulnerable. No, he'd never done such a thing before and he knew he would never forgive himself if he ever did, but, still, the temptation was there. The feel of her small body next to his, the scent of her lilac shampoo that still lingered in her hair, and the fact that she really relied on him right now was more than tempting.

Slowly but surely they exited the house, went across the deck, down the three steps, and made it onto the beach. The walk across the sand was even harder, but somehow they managed. They walked all the way to the water's edge and then sat down.

"See? That wasn't so hard," said Gar with a smile, finally breaking the silence between them.

"Took long enough, though," said Raven, getting comfortable in the sand. "Okay, we're here, what do you want to talk about?"

"Alright, let's see," he said, thinking about what he wanted to ask first. "Well, first off, if you're a pacifist why did you take karate and kickboxing?"

Raven thought for a moment then said, "A fair question. I took them up as a form of meditation and to help take out my frustration. Not to mention it's good exercise."

"Okay," said Gar. "Why didn't you want to have the police come and arrest Tara? Do you have a problem with the cops?"

"It's a little complicated," she said. "You see my father is pretty well known to most police and there have been multiple times when I've asked for their help and have ended up being interrogated about him and his business. So I've decided that it's better to just not get the police involved with my life."

"But Tara needs to be arrested," said Gar. "She can't just keep doing this to you without any punishment."

"I believe in karma," Raven said with a shrug. "What goes around comes around."

"Didn't you say something about karma after your accident?" said Gar.

"Yes," said Raven. "I'm pretty sure I did get into that accident because of how I was acting before, especially towards you. I just didn't want anyone to point it out."

"Ah, I see," said Gar. "So, you really think Tara's gonna get what's coming to her someday?"

"I can only hope that she realizes the error of her ways," said Raven. "I really don't wish any harm on her. But it'd be nice to know that she's sorry for what she's done to people."

"You really are a pacifist," he laughed. "You know, I've never seen this side of you before."

"That's because I've always kept it hidden," she said. "If people know that I'm capable of killing them then they leave me alone. But, if they know that I'm capable of killing them but can't because of my beliefs, then that makes me vulnerable. Tara learned that fact and look what happened."

"Well I want you to know that even though I know, I'm not gonna do anything like what Tara did," he said.

"I'd appreciate it," she said.

He smiled and then something caught the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a bright ball of colors in the distance. "Oh, there're the fireworks!" he said, pointing. The two of them turned towards the fireworks to watch them.

"You really should've gone," said Raven. "I'm sure the others are having a great time."

"As much as I love a crowd, I'm kinda liking it being just the two of us," he said, his other personality coming through slightly. He cursed himself and felt like an idiot. 'Smooth, Gar, smooth,' he said to himself.

Raven felt her heart race again for a moment by his words. She bit her bottom lip and looked down at the sand that was slowly seeping into her cast around her toes. She replayed the events that had led up to this moment again and again. That morning she was planning on spending the next twenty-four hours at a hotel and now she was sitting with Gar on the beach all alone watching fireworks.

Gar cleared his throat and said, "So, um, how's your book coming along?"

"Fine," said Raven. "I'm hoping I'll finish it before the end of the summer."

"Not many people can write a book in only a couple months," said Gar.

"Well, not many people are me," said Raven. "And not many people spend all of their time writing and doing nothing else."

"True," said Gar.

A silence passed as they watched the fireworks in the distance. They were much better than the ones that Dick had bought, but they weren't as close. It took forever to hear the booms from the fireworks after they'd exploded. But the colors were beautiful and there were quite a few types.

"You know, I've never seen fireworks before," said Raven.

"What?!" said Gar, turning towards her. "This is your first time? How can that be?"

"Well, my boarding school was overseas, so we didn't celebrate Independence Day," she said.

"What about New Years?" he asked.

"I've never stayed up for New Years," she said.

"You've never stayed up for New Years?!" he shouted. "Jesus, what else haven't you done?"

"Many things, I'm sure," said Raven.

"Do you celebrate any holidays?" he asked.

"Not really," she said with a shrug.

"Not Valentine's Day? Not St. Patrick's Day? Easter? Mother's Day? Father's Day? Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas?!" he rambled.

"No, I don't take part in any of those holidays," she said.

"What about Passover or Hanukah?" he asked.

"No!" she said. "I don't celebrate any holidays at all. I don't even celebrate my birthday."

"What?!" Gar explained. "Well no wonder you're so weird! I'd be antisocial and creepy if I was raised like that! How can you have never had a birthday? You've never had a party or a cake or gifts or anything? Your birthday is the biggest celebration of them all!"

"Let's just say that I never had much to celebrate," said Raven lowly.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Never mind," she said. "Forget I said anything."

"But-" he began.

"If you don't stop talking I'm going to miss the fireworks, and as I've said this is my first time viewing them," she said firmly.

Gar wanted to push the issue, but decided to just keep his mouth shut for now. He wasn't going to forget about this. So he turned his gaze back onto the fireworks and kept quiet so that Raven could enjoy the fireworks.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 22

The grand finale certainly lived up to its name. Nearly a dozen fireworks were going off at a single time and the sound must have been deafening from where the others were in town. Even Gar and Raven on the beach could feel the power of the explosions. When it finally ended Gar whistled and clapped as if he were part of a large crowd instead of simply sitting with one other person.

"Wow, that was awesome!" he said with a smile. "One of the best shows I've ever seen. What'd you think?"

"It was nice," she replied. "I can see why people make such a fuss about them. I don't think I'd want to be any closer than this, though. I don't care for loud noises."

"Yeah, me neither," said Gar. "I've always thought I've had really sensitive ears. Well, at least when they're clean. When they're all full of wax I can't hear a thing! I remember this one time-"

"That's okay, I don't need to know," Raven said quickly.

"Oh, sorry," said Gar, scratching the back of his neck. "I kinda forgot that girls don't like hearing about that kind of stuff."

"No, we don't," said Raven. "So, now that the fireworks are done, can we go back in?"

"Well, I was thinking we could hang out here for a little while longer," said Gar. "I mean, the others aren't gonna be back for a little while cuz of the traffic."

"What difference does it make whether they're here or not?" she said.

"It doesn't," he said quickly. "It's just that I know you don't like to be around a lot of people."

"Well, if we're going to stay out here, what're we going to do?" she asked. "Just sit here in silence together?"

"No, we can talk," Gar shrugged. "Fore instance, we can talk about your whole 'don't celebrate holidays or my birthday' thing."

"I'd rather we didn't touch upon that subject again," said Raven.

"Well I'm really curious," he said. "I mean, what's so bad about your birthday?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said firmly.

"Did something bad happen?" he asked.

"Can we please go inside?" she asked.

"Why can't you talk about it?" he asked. "I mean, they say talking about things always make's you feel better."

"Fine, I'll go back on my own," she said and began to slowly crawl away from him and back towards the house.

"Whoa, hold on," he said, quickly crawling ahead of her and stopping her. "Okay, I'll stop asking about your birthday."

"I want to go inside," she said. "Move."

"Come on, just stay out here for a while," he said. "You can lock yourself away when they come back."

"I'd rather lock myself away now, before they get back," she said.

"But then I'd be left all alone," he said.

"What's so bad about being alone?" she asked.

"What's so bad about being with other people?" he retorted.

"Plenty," said Raven.

"Well, the same goes for being alone," said Gar.

"Are you going to get out of my way or not?" she sighed.

"Nope," he said and sat in front of her. She attempted to go around him but he quickly moved about to make sure he was always blocking her.

She let out a groan and said, "Fine, if you won't get out of my way then I'll just go over you."

She then promptly crawled straight for him and began to push him down to go over him. Gar couldn't believe she'd actually go this far, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by. As she was on top of him he wrapped his arms around her.

"Why, Raven, I didn't know you felt this way about me," he said in a fake surprised voice.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, shocked he'd do such a thing. She was also in a lot of pain since she was covered in bruises and scratches.

"Come on, you know you love me," he said, hugging her tightly.

"I despise you!" she yelled and struggled to get out of his grasp.

He could feel her breaking through his hold and decided to try something else. He got his fingers around her waist and began to tickle her. To his shock she tensed up instantly and screeched like he'd never heard. He took this opportunity to flip their positions, so he could get a better hold of her.

"Ah hah! Now you can't go anywhere!" he said, victoriously.

"I swear to God, if you don't get off of me I'll-" she began.

"Do what? Kill me? Call the cops?" he laughed. "Face it, Raven, if I was a sleazy guy I could do whatever I wanted to you and you wouldn't be able to do a thing."

"Is there supposed to be some sort of point to this, then?" she asked.

"Don't you realize that something bad could happen to you and you wouldn't have any way of protecting or defending yourself?" he said.

"I'm quite aware of that," said Raven. "Now get off of me!"

"I dunno," he said with a sly smile. "I kinda like it up here."

"Get off of me now!" she screamed, more out of panic now than anger.

Gar heard the change in her voice and his grin disappeared. He realized that Raven looked like she was in a panic now; there was even fear in her eyes. He now saw that he'd crossed a huge line and was really scaring her now. He quickly crawled off of her and backed away a little bit. She sat right up and stiffened up, her breathing erratic. She quickly reached up and wiped her eyes which had filled with tears.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Don't ever do something like that to me again," she said, her voice even hoarser than usual.

"Okay, I won't," he said. "I didn't know it'd upset you that much."

"It'd upset any woman if you climbed on top of them like that," she snapped. "Then telling me that there's nothing I can do to protect myself? What the hell did you think was going to happen?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't thinking." He watched as she covered her face with her hands and began to take in deep breaths. He suddenly felt very guilty for what he'd done. For Christ's sake, he'd brought her to tears! "Raven? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she spat. "Just… Just leave me alone."

"I really didn't mean to upset you," he said, moving a little closer to her.

"Don't come any closer to me," she warned, moving away from him slightly.

"Okay," he said, sitting back. He watched as she wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees. He felt sick to his stomach from the guilt. "I'm really really sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just… I dunno… I just wanted you to stay."

"Why?" she asked. "Why the hell do you want me to be out here with you? What the hell do you want from me?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug, which was the truth. He really wasn't sure what he wanted from her. All he knew was that he wanted her to be around him. "I just don't want you to go up to your room and lock yourself away from me-us again. You might not believe it, but things are always livelier when you're around."

"So I'm a form of some sort of amusement for you?" she said, wiping her eyes once more.

"No," he said quickly. "That's not it at all. It's just nice having you around because you're so… different. It's nice meeting people who are different, you know? You learn something from them that you can't learn from your friends."

"And just what are you learning from me?" she asked.

"A lot of things, actually," he said, slightly moving closer to her, now that things were starting to calm down. "I've learned that it's possible for someone to know like five different languages. I've learned that some people don't celebrate holidays. I've learned that Tara has ruined more than one life. And I've learned that even though someone might look and act different than everyone else it doesn't mean they don't have the same feelings like everyone else does."

Raven thought about this for a moment then said, "Can I go inside now?"

Gar sighed and said, "Yeah." He stood up and offered her his hands. She hesitated and that made him feel all the worse. "I swear, I won't do anything inappropriate." She still had an unsure look in her eyes. "I promise."

She looked up into his eyes and then slowly took his hands. "You swear?" she said.

"I swear," he said. "I swear on my life."

"I need a more convincing swear," said Raven, her face completely serious.

Gar got down to be eyelevel with her and said, "Raven, I swear on my parents' graves. Please believe me."

He looked deep into her eyes, every fiber of his being hoping she'd accept his words. A sudden panic took him as thoughts of her always been afraid of him cross his mind. Would she always hesitate and pull away from him like an abused animal? Here he'd been trying to get closer to her for so long and now he'd probably ruined his chances forever. And as he waited for her to answer him he gazed into her violet blue eyes he realized how much he wanted, no, needed her to trust him again.

As he looked into her eyes Raven felt all of the scared and hesitant feelings within her wash away. Even though he'd held her against her will in a way that brought back a few very harsh memories she could tell that he was different from other men; she'd known that from the moment she'd met him. She saw nothing but honesty and hope in his bright eyes that resembled the green only found in cat's eyes. Not only that, she could feel the regret of his actions pouring out of his very soul.

"Alright, help me up," she said softly.

He gently pulled her towards him and she lifted off of the sand. She got to her good foot and placed her hands on his shoulders to get a better sense of balance. A silence passed between them and it seemed that everything was alright now.

It was then that they realized that once again their bodies were very close and that excited, awkward feeling returned to them. Instantly the contact between them made their hearts race and their skin burn. As Raven touched his shoulders she suddenly remembered the body that resided beneath his tacky Hawaiian shirt. She hated feeling these emotions for him, but at the same time they were exhilarating. Gar looked into her eyes as she gained her balance and he gently placed his hands on her waist to help steady her. Her whole body seemed illuminated in the moonlight and she looked absolutely beautiful. Yes, even with a black eye, slightly split upper lip, bruises, and scratches she looked radiant.

It's funny how a moment can feel absolutely surreal and almost dreamlike. Reality fades away with thoughts and reasons leaving only pure and raw honesty of who we are and what we want. Gar and Raven found themselves in the middle of one of these moments as they stood there in the moonlight on the beach. The sound of the waves crashing near the shore was both deafening and subtle in a way that only happens in a moment of time such as this. The wind gave them a slight relief from the heat and seemed to surround them.

A magnetism that could only be created by some sort of magic began to draw their bodies in closer to each other. Gar tightened his hold on her waist, grabbing mostly the material of her shirt in his hands, and brought her closer to him. Raven's fingers gripped his shoulders strongly and she slowly began to pull him closer to her. Subconsciously she gently bit her lower lip for a moment while he lightly ran his tongue along his own.

It was shear electricity flowing between them as their touch absorbed into the other. Their breaths were short and quick, their hearts humming together, and their minds melding into one. Slowly their lips began to draw closer and closer to each other until they could taste the other's sweet breath.

Two sets of car horns blaring pierced through the moment like gunshots as the others turned into the driveway, back from viewing the fireworks in town. In an instant the unique and beautiful moment created between Gar and Raven was shattered and they leapt apart as if they'd been caught committing a crime. Poor Raven instantly lost her footing and fell back onto the sand. The two listened as all of the car doors opened and closed followed by many voices. To their relief, the whole group went into house.

"Uh, sorry about that," said Gar, helping her back to her feet.

"It's fine," she said, refusing to look him in the eyes.

Once she was back up the two held each other the traditional way to head back towards the house; arm around the other's shoulder or back. Both felt like complete fools, but weren't going to let the other know they felt that way. It was pretty clear they weren't going to mention that moment again for a long while… or at least morning.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 23

Morning came with many pending hangovers as a result of the celebration the night before. The bonfire out on the beach was still smoldering though the glow sticks had faded away. Inside the house bodies were spread about on now quite deflated air mattresses and one disheveled couch. It was all quiet accept for the sound of many young men snoring in their deep sleep.

Upstairs in her room Raven lay atop her bed, having not gotten a wink of sleep during the night. She felt sore and tired, but that was the least of her problems. She wasn't sure what to think of what had nearly happened between her and Gar the night before. Had the others not come home, what would've happened? She didn't want to think about it and, yet, she did. She hated these feelings rushing through her veins and she hated these thoughts rushing through her brain.

But what upset her the most was that this was all happening because of Gar. Had she really fallen for him? _Him_?! First off, she swore she would never get herself involved with a man again. And secondly, _him_? Had her level of taste really gotten that low? He was her complete opposite in every single way. She couldn't be attracted to him; she didn't want to be!

She sighed and sat up. How were things be between them now? He obviously knew that she felt something for him after the near kiss. She was pretty sure he was going to blackmail her with it or he'd tell his friends as quickly as possible so they could all laugh at her. Here she had been acting as if she was so much better than them and now she'd fallen for one of them. Not only was she a hypocrite, she was in deep trouble.

But what about him? He'd reacted nearly the same way she had during that strange moment. Did that mean he liked her? How could he possibly like her? She hadn't really heard him say anything positive about her until just recently. Maybe he was just teasing her. He did seem the type to tease. Again, she didn't know what to think. And, if he did like her, what did that say about her? For God's sake, he was with Tara! Not only that, he'd made out with her last night.

It was then that she realized that if they had kissed she'd be kissing someone whose lips had been on Tara's not two hours before. She suddenly felt very nauseas. No, she couldn't allow herself to like Gar. She'd never be with any man who liked Tara. That was that, her mind was made up.

Up above her, Gar lay in his hammock; he hadn't slept during the night either. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt so conflicted before. What he _was_ sure about was that he hadn't felt this way about a girl since the beginning of his relationship with Tara. But this was very different from what he had had with Tara. Probably because what they had was love at first sight, whereas with Raven he hadn't felt anything remotely romantic for her for weeks. It wasn't until he'd gotten to know her that he began to fall for her.

Had they really nearly kissed last night? He knew that he wanted to, oh God had he wanted to, but did she feel the same? He was pretty sure she was holding him and drawing him closer to herself just as he was doing to her. Well, if she did feel anything for him she sure hid it well. She hid everything very well.

What will his friends think if they find out about this? He knew Raven wasn't going to tell him, but did that mean he should? She'd probably never forgive him. But he needed to talk 

to someone about this. He wondered if he should call up a hotline or something. He quickly decided against this and would try to deal with it on his own.

He began to think about Raven and how she might feel right now. Was she as freaked out as he was? Was she as confused? She had to be. But, then again, she was a bit more levelheaded than he was. For all he knew she'd already put it behind her and would be as normal as ever. She could be weird like that.

So where did he go from here? He knew that the smart thing to do was to act like nothing had happened out in public and try to deal with it behind closed doors. But he didn't want to forget about all of this. Eventually he did want to confront Raven and talk about what had happened. He had tried to kiss her and she'd tried to kiss him. Something like this could not be brushed aside.

The hours of the new day went by and around noon everyone began to wake up. Most of them felt sick and all still felt tired. But Vic, being the wonderful host he was, got to work cooking a large brunch for everyone. The mouthwatering smell that came from the kitchen put everyone in a better move and even helped some wake up from their deep sleep.

"So, are you guys going to go home today?" asked Dick.

"Would you mind if we stayed one more day?" asked Karen. "I'm in no condition or mood to drive and I don't think anyone else is."

"Definitely not me," said Roy.

"You all may stay as long as you wish," said Kori with a smile.

"Sounds good to me," said Wally, putting his feet up on the coffee table as if this were his home.

"Yeah, don't get too comfortable," said Vic, who was still in competition with Wally for Jen. "I'm not gonna have your mooching ass around here too long."

"Hey, I'm no mooch," said Wally. "I've got no problem pulling my weight around here."

"Good, then you can go clean up outside," said Vic with a fake smile.

"Hey, less talkie more cookie," said Wally, brushing him off.

Vic would've had steam shooting out of his ears if it were possible. He grumbled something rather crude and got back to work cooking the brunch food. Jen found this all very amusing, but had to roll her eyes at them.

"Hey, where's Gar?" asked Garth.

"Probably still asleep," said Dick. "Though this is kind of pushing it."

"And where's Raven?" asked Toni.

"I wouldn't count on her showing up any time soon," said Vic. "Without a party for an excuse, I doubt she'll show her face at all today."

"She's still like that, huh?" said Karen. "Though, I can't say that I'd expect anything else from her."

"Let's not forget she got beaten up pretty badly last night," said Toni. "I'm sure she doesn't want to have any more attention paid to her."

"That's right, I forgot about that," said Dick. "Well, someone should go up there with a plate of food for her so she doesn't have to come downstairs."

"Good idea," said Jen.

"Does anyone want to get Gar?" asked Roy.

"Trust me, it's better not to have Gar here at any meal time," said Vic. "Someone can get him after we're done eating."

Said green haired man climbed down the ladder from his room in the attic. Once he was on the floor, he put the ladder back up and closed the door. And there he was, face to face with Raven's room. He knew she was in there; where else would she be with nearly ten other people in the house? He bit his upper lip and took a step towards her door. The floorboard creaked and he froze. After a moment he took another step and then another until his nose pressed up against the door. He turned his head and pressed his hear against the cold wood, trying to hear what she was doing on the other side. He heard nothing.

'Should I knock?' he thought to himself. 'I know it'd be a stupid thing to do, but I wanna see her. I don't know why, but I really wanna see her right now. I wanna know if she's okay after last night. God, Garfield, what should you do?'

He took a slight step back, closed his eyes, and lifted his knuckles to her door. He felt his heart begin to race and he hadn't even knocked yet. He took in a large breath and on the exhale let his curled knuckles fall upon the door. And as soon as he heard himself knock on her door he wanted to reverse time and take it back.

"Yes?" her voice came, firm and impatient.

Gar opened his mouth but no sound came out. His heart raced as well as his brain and tried to think of what he should say. At last he squeaked, "Hi."

"Who is it?" asked Raven, unable to tell who it was from a simple word.

"Uh, it's Gar," he said, his voice cracking slightly.

It went silent for a total of seven seconds.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice suddenly going soft and even nervous.

"I, uh, I want to, you know, talk?" he said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. What was he doing? He said he'd leave this alone for a while!

"I'm not sure I want to talk right now," Raven replied.

"I think we should," he said. "Can I come in?"

Again, it went silent; this time for a record nine seconds.

"Is there anyone else around?" she said.

"No, it's just me," he said.

"Alright, come in," she said.

He grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and slowly opened her door. He looked inside and saw her sitting on her bed, still in her pajamas. This was odd, since he knew she always got dressed as soon as she got up. He closed the door behind him and then seemed unable to move forward. Instantly, the room filled with an odd tension.

"Hi," he said again awkwardly.

"Hello," she replied.

Gar took in a deep breath and said, "Raven, about last night-"

"Last night never happened," she said quickly.

"So you're going to pretend we didn't almost-" he began.

"It didn't happen," she said firmly.

"We can't just be in denial about it," he said. "I mean, I think it's a pretty big deal."

"Gar, I think we should forget that the whole thing happened," said Raven. "Whatever it was we were about to do, it was going to be a mistake in the end."

"A mistake?" he said. "How can you know if it was going to be a mistake or not if it didn't happen?"

"I just do," she said. "Look, I'm sorry if it looked like I wanted to… you know… but I really don't like you like that."

"Then why the hell did you act like you did?" asked Gar. "How can you not like me if you tried to kiss me?"

"I was caught up in the moment," she said evenly.

"Bullshit!" he said, going closer to her. "You wanted me just as much as I wanted you and I bet you still do. Let me guess, you don't want people to know that you like me? What, am I too blue collar for you?"

"Don't take it personally," said Raven. "I just don't want to get involved with anyone. And, unfortunately, I could never be with anyone who was at one point in time with Tara."

"So, what, I'm tainted because I was with her?" he asked. "Don't you think if I could change the past I would totally make sure I never ended up with her?"

"I know, but you can't," she said. "And I can't change who I am either. So I think we should just forget about last night and get on with our lives."

"Well I don't," he said. "I know I'm probably gonna regret this, but I like you, Raven. I really like you. And I think it's stupid that I can't be with you just cuz I've made poor choices in women in the past."

"How can you possibly be attracted to me and Tara?" said Raven. "Are you saying that we're similar?"

"No," he said. "Hell, you two are as different as they come. I don't know why I like you and her, but I do. But I don't like her anymore and I'm gonna get a restraining order against her as soon as possible. Can't we at least try to, you know, be something more than acquaintances?"

"I'm sorry, Gar, but I don't want anything more than what we have," she said. "I barely want even that. And, like I said, don't take it personally. I've sworn off all relationships."

"Why? What do you have against relationships?" he asked. "Why can't you allow yourself to be with anyone?"

"It's none of your business," said Raven. "But, to put it simply, it's a trust issue."

"So that's that then?" Gar asked. "We forget that we nearly kissed last night and get on with our lives?"

"Yes," she said. "And no one will be the wiser. If I were you I'd try to hook up with Toni or Jen."

"What about Karen?" he asked.

"Trust me, she'd chew you up and spit you out in a minute," she said.


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 24

A week later Raven was pleased to have her cast removed at last. To the doctor's surprise, her ankle had healed up quite quickly and she'd been wearing the cast for a bit longer then was necessary. She was now free to walk, though it was recommended that she avoid any strenuous activity on it.

"Now that you are no longer in a cast will you be joining us more?" asked Kori, who'd driven her to the hospital.

"No," Raven replied. "If anything, you'll be seeing me even less now that I don't need any help."

"Oh," said Kori, disappointed. "I suppose you shall be continuing your work on your book."

"Of course," said Raven.

"Are you going to be finished soon?" asked Kori.

"I should finish up by the end of August," said Raven. "Then I'll send it to a publisher and in a few months hopefully get it published."

"And what will you do after that?" asked Kori.

"I'm going back to school, of course," she said. "But I'll also get to work on another book."

"And that is how you are going to live your life?" said Kori.

"Yes, is that a problem?" said Raven.

"I just think you should perhaps try doing the thinking outside of the box," said Kori. "Surely you will become bored if you live your life like that. Do you really want your life to be boring?"

"I like boring," said Raven. "Boring is stable, boring is safe."

"But boring is… boring," said Kori. "You will be unhappy if your life is always boring."

"My life has been anything but boring, so I'd like it if my remaining days were uneventful," said Raven.

"You do not want to go anywhere or experience anything new?" asked Kori. "What about love? Do you not wish to find love?"

"You know very well that I don't," Raven replied.

"But it happened two years ago," said Kori. "Surely it is time you did the moving on."

"I don't want to discuss this," said Raven, growing cold.

"You can not let something that happened in the past control your future," said Kori. "As horrible as it was, I do not think you should let it hold you back from being happy now."

"I don't want to talk about it!" said Raven. "And I don't want _you_ giving me advice. You have no idea how horrible it was."

"I would if you talked about it," said Kori.

"It's my personal business and if I don't want to talk about it then I won't," said Raven.

The two arrived back at the beach house and went their separate ways. Raven went up to her room, proudly walking up the steps on her own, and locked herself in. Kori joined the guys who were out on the beach. Vic and Dick were playing catch while Gar was surfing the large waves that were coming in.

"Hey, you're back," said Dick with a smile. "Everything go okay?"

"Yes, it went fine," said Kori, who seemed down.

"What's the matter?" asked Vic.

"Oh, I am just distressed about Raven," Kori said with a sigh. "It seems she will never change her attitude about anything. It frustrates me terribly to talk to her sometimes."

"Did she go straight up to her room?" asked Dick.

"Yes," said Kori. "And she said that we will be seeing even less of her now."

"I find that hard to believe, since we barely saw her at all before," said Vic.

"How is Gar doing?" asked Kori.

"Still acting like he's got a bug up his ass," said Vic. "I don't know what's going on, but he better get over it soon cuz I can't stand it when he's grumpy."

"I'm telling you, it's got to be about Tara," said Dick. "You know he always acted weird after an encounter with her."

"Yeah, but that was only for, like, a day or two," said Vic. "It's been a week since the party and he's still cranky."

"Have either of you asked him why he is not his usual joyous self?" asked Kori.

"I don't really do the whole 'talking' thing," said Dick, looking a little uncomfortable.

"I tried, but he told me to piss off," said Vic. "Whatever it is, he doesn't want to talk about it."

Gar came up and took in a deep breath of air. He grabbed his surfboard, climbed onto it on his stomach, and began paddling back out into the open water. He was quite worn out by this time, but he didn't want to go in. Whenever he was angry or frustrated he always found that surfing helped relieve the tension.

After the talk he'd had with Raven a week before things had been a bit odd between them, but not so much so that the others noticed. She completely ignored him and for some reason that really pissed him off. He hated that she really looked like she didn't care about the almost kiss they'd had. And he was even more upset that after two years he'd finally found a girl he liked and she refused to like him back because of his affiliation with Tara.

"Gar, you better come in!" Dick called out to his friend. "It's going to storm any minute and those waves are getting a little big."

"I'm fine!" Gar called back in a sharp tone.

"Come on, man, you're gonna get yourself killed!" said Vic.

"Like I care," Gar scoffed quietly to himself.

"Please, friend, I do not want you to injure yourself," Kori called out to him.

Gar ignored her and swam out towards a rather large forming wave. He turned himself and the board around and as the wave came he began to paddle as quickly as he could to get to the right place. Once there, he lifted himself up, balanced himself, and away he went. The force of the wave was great and he struggled to keep himself up, but he managed.

"He's insane," said Dick, shaking his head.

"He is an experienced surfer, correct?" asked Kori.

"Yeah, but he does stupid things when he's in one of his moods," said Vic, crossing his arms. "I don't trust him to come in when the waves get too intense for him."

Gar safely rode the wave all the way out and fell into the water at the end. Feeling he'd shown his friends that he didn't need them worrying about him, he got atop his board and began paddling in towards the shore. Once there he picked the board up and walked right passed them without saying a word.

A little while later he found himself sitting on the couch flipping through the TV channels. The storm that had been approaching had arrived and now it was raining harshly. Kori looked into the living room and saw him and, since neither of his friends were going to attempt to talk to him, she decided it was up to her. She took in a deep breath, put a smile on her face, and practically skipped over to the couch.

"Hello friend," she said, sitting down.

"Hey," Gar mumbled.

"How have you been?" she asked pleasantly.

"Fine," he grumbled.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" she asked.

"No," he muttered.

"Are you sure?" she pushed. "You have seemed a bit down lately. If there is anything on your mind I am here for you."

"It's nothing," he said. "And, no offense, but I wouldn't talk to you about it."

"Why? Is it a 'guy' thing?" she asked.

"Well… I guess not," said Gar, thinking about it for a second. "It's just… I know we're kinda friends and all but I don't think we're good enough friends to talk about things on a close level."

"But no one else is willing to listen to you," said Kori. "Victor has tried once, Richard does not like doing the 'talking', and I do not think you would go to Raven. So, please, if there is something you wish to talk about talk to me. I am here for you."

Gar thought for a moment, unsure of what to do. He then sighed and said, "Alright, but whatever I say stays between the two of us, okay?"

"Yes, of course," said Kori, crossing her legs and turning towards him as if she were about to hear a good piece of gossip.

"Alright, give me a second," said Gar getting up. He ran around and looked for where Vic and Dick where. They were both down in the basement; Vic was looking through a car magazine and Dick was attacking his punching bag. Once he was sure they weren't going to hear what he was about to say, he went back to the couch. "Okay, here it is, I kinda like someone and I'm pretty sure they like me but they won't give me a chance because of a few really stupid reasons."

Kori stared at him blankly for a moment then said, "I am sorry, but I think you will have to be a little more informative. Who is this person you like?"

Gar sighed and said, "I really don't think I can tell you."

"Oh, please?" Kori begged. "Do I know them?"

"Yes," said Gar.

"Is it one of my friends?" she asked.

"In a manner of speaking," he replied.

"Is it Raven?!" said Kori, bouncing up and down on the couch.

"Shh!" he said, covering her mouth with his hands. "Jesus, this can't stay between the two of us if the whole world hears!"

"I am sorry," said Kori. "It is just that I knew you two would become friendly eventually. And I am thrilled to know that you have feelings of affection for each other!"

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter what we feel cuz Raven doesn't wanna be with me or anyone for that matter," he said. "She said she never wants to be in a relationship and, even if she did, she wouldn't get involved with me cuz I was with Tara. So I'm basically screwed."

"Tara was very harsh to Raven so I am not surprised she would feel uncomfortable being with someone who was romantically involved with her," said Kori. "And Raven has often said that she does not want to ever be in a relationship again. But, I can not blame her."

"Why? What does she have against relationships?" he asked.

"Well… I am not sure I should tell you without Raven's consent," said Kori.

"Hey, we said that everything was gonna be confidential," said Gar. "So I won't tell her you told me. So what's her deal?"

"Do you promise to never tell Raven I told you?" asked Kori.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," said Gar. "Now spill."

"Alright," said Kori, still not sure if she should reveal this information. "Two years ago Raven was dating a man named Malchior Draco. She loved him very much and it was the first time she had ever been in a relationship before."

"So I'm guessing it didn't work out," said Gar.

"He committed the ultimate betrayal against her," said Kori.

"He cheated on her, right?" said Gar.

"No he… he raped her," said Kori.

Gar had not seen that coming and his jaw practically fell to the floor. "Are you serious?" he asked. "He raped her?"

"Yes," she said. "And when he was arrested the police questioned Raven for two days about her father. She was traumatized by the incident and her trust for all men is gone."

"Jeez, no wonder she doesn't wanna be with me," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "She sure has had a tough life, huh?"

"This is true," said Kori. "If you wish to be with Raven you must show her that you are not like Malchior. You must prove that you will not make her feel uncomfortable or break her trust."

It was then that Gar understood why Raven had gotten so upset when he'd held her down against her will when they were alone on the beach. Had he known her past, he wouldn't have even considered doing such a thing. He had an urge to go apologize to her again for his actions, but he knew that if he did she'd ask him why he suddenly wanted to re-apologize and he'd have to throw Kori under the bus for telling him.


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Chapter 25

The sun was setting and it was going to be an absolutely beautiful night. The air was warm and slightly humid, but in a very comfortable way. The sky was alight with brilliant colors that were slowly dimming into night. Dick and Kori had taken Raven's car and gone off to have a romantic picnic dinner together, leaving the other three alone in the house. Gar and Vic were sitting out on the beach with a couple of cold beers, enjoying the view.

"This has got to be one of the best summers on record," said Vic.

"Definitely," Gar agreed.

"I can't believe it's already half over," Vic sighed. "Fall's gonna suck."

"Yeah, but on the up side we can look forward to spending next summer here again," said Gar.

"True," said Vic. "So, what do you think is gonna happen between Dick and Kori at the end of the summer?"

"I don't think they're gonna break up," said Gar. "Hell, I bet they're gonna get married before the end of the year."

Vic laughed and said, "Fate totally had something to do with those two finding each other."

Gar took a long sip of his beer then said, "I wonder what fate's got planned for us."

"Probably a good dose of good times and bad times," Vic said wisely as he leaned back into his chair. "Wake me up if I fall asleep."

"Sure," Gar chuckled.

Within five minutes Vic was fast asleep in his chair. He wasn't one to take naps, but once he fell asleep he was out cold for a good while and no one could wake him up. So Gar decided to take this opportunity to go see what Raven was doing; though he knew exactly what she was doing.

He went up to her room and knocked on her door loudly, since he was pretty sure she was wearing her ear plugs. "Hey, Raven," he called.

"What?" she asked shortly.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she snapped. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to see what you were up to," he said. "Vic and I were sitting outside watching the sun set. Have you looked outside?"

"Can't say that I have," she replied.

"Well do you wanna go for a walk with me?" he asked.

"Not really," she said honestly.

"Come on, it's beautiful out," he pushed. "Besides, you haven't taken a break all day. And I know cuz I watch your door like a hawk."

"You seriously need to get a better hobby," she said.

"I kinda like the one I got," he replied. "Now come out here or I'll start throwing rocks at your window again."

Raven sighed and said, "Fine, if it'll shut you up for the rest of the night." A minute later her door opened and they were face to face. She walked passed him and went down the stairs, to which he quickly followed.

Once outside Raven couldn't help but notice the passed out man in the beach chair. He was snoring quite loudly, yet he seemed motionless.

"Did you drug him?" she asked.

"No," Gar chuckled. "I think he was up late last night talking to one of your friends."

"Who?" she asked.

"Jen, if I'm not mistaken," he said. "Apparently he and Wally are both after her."

"She always did have a way with men," said Raven.

The two began to walk down the beach along the shore. Raven held her arms and looked like she was very bored while Gar had shoved his hands into his pockets and looked quite content with the situation. It didn't take long for him to break the silence they had been walking in.

"So, can you believe the summer's already halfway done?" he said.

"Yes," Raven shrugged. "It hasn't been exactly flying by for me. More like dragging out."

"Yeah, you've had a pretty rough summer so far," he said. "Well, hopefully things will stay calm."

"Well now you've jinxed it," said Raven.

"Sorry," Gar chuckled.

"So, have we walked enough yet?" she asked.

"Nope," he said.

"Well how far do we have to walk until it's enough?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied. "I'm in no hurry."

"You're never in a hurry," said Raven. "I, on the other hand, have things to do."

"Nothing that can't wait," said Gar.

Raven sighed and the two walked on. The water that rushed upon their feet was warm and soothing. A light breeze blew and everything felt quite comfortable. The sun had set at last and the sky was darkening ever more. Above the first star of the night could be seen.

"This is paradise," Gar said with a relaxed breath. "I'm really glad you let us stay here for the summer."

"I had nothing to do with it and you know it," said Raven. "This was all Kori's doing."

"Well I'm glad you didn't call the police or something to get us taken off of the property," he said.

"I'm not exactly the dramatic type," she said. "And I'm sure karma would come back to bite me in the ass if I did."

"Karma sure seems to have you on a short leash," he said.

"You have no idea," Raven sighed.

"Kinda makes me wonder if you were a rotten kid or something to have so much bad stuff happen to you," said Gar.

"I'll have you know that I was a perfectly well behaved child," she said. "Hell, I don't know if I ever was a child in my family circumstance."

"I was totally an ADHD kid," he said. "You couldn't pay me to sit still. I think it's cuz I thought that if I was still then everything would catch up to me. Like all the bad stuff."

"That makes sense," she said. "I take it that you did finally stop moving and let it all catch up to you."

"Yeah, but not until a few years ago," he said. "I think I was ready to deal with it by then." He found a stone, picked it up, and tossed it into the sea. "Sucks growing up, huh?"

"That it does," Raven agreed.

A crab scuttled past them to the water and was soon swept away. Above a seagull cried out in that annoying way that they often do. A few more stars had appeared and the only sound was that of the tide rushing in.

"So, you have any second thoughts about give me a try?" he asked.

"A try at what?" asked Raven, playing dumb and hoping he'd drop the subject.

"At, you know, being with you," he said.

"Somehow I knew that that was what this was about," Raven sighed. "I already told you, I don't want to be in any sort of relationship."

"You don't want to even give it a try?" he said.

"No," she said firmly.

"Well, for what it's worth, I really am sorry about what I did that night," he said. "I didn't mean to make you feel so uncomfortable when I held you down."

"It's alright," she said. "I know you did it without thinking."

"Yeah, I'm kinda infamous for that," said Gar, scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, I actually _have_ been thinking lately and the fact is I can't get you out of my head."

"You will, don't worry," said Raven.

"But what if I don't?" he asked.

"Then you're in trouble," she said.

"Come on, Raven, what if we're missing out on something special?" he asked. "I mean, look at Dick and Kori! Don't you wanna be like them?"

"Can't say that I do," she said.

"Okay, maybe I phrased that wrong," he said. "But you can't deny that there's something between us."

"So tell me, Gar, what do you want me to do?" she said. "Do you want me to throw myself into your arms, say 'take me now', and spend the next month and a half with you just so we can depart at the end of the summer and go on with our lives like none of this meant anything? I'm not interested."

"I don't want that at all!" he said. "I'm not that kind of guy, Raven. I don't like one night stands or flings. When I'm with a girl I'm with her for a long time. In fact, I've never dumped any woman; they've always ended the relationships. Well… except for the whole Tara mess. I did dump her, but with good reason. So don't think that I just wanna be with you for the rest of the summer and then toss you aside when real life starts up again."

"So what does happen at the end of the summer?" she asked.

"We can work it out when the time comes," he said. "So, what do you say?"

Raven sighed, stopped walking, and went into thought. Gar stopped right beside her and waited for her response. He was surprised that she was even thinking about it, so whatever her answer was he knew that at least he'd made some sort of a dent.

"I need to think about it," she said at last.

"Sure, take all the time you want," he said, happy that he'd actually made her say something other than no.

"Can we head back now?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think we've walked enough," said Gar and with that the two turned around and headed back along their own footsteps.

When they arrived back at the house Vic was still fast asleep in his chair and Gar decided it was the perfect time to play a prank on him. He ran into the house, filled a bucket full of 

colder water with even a few ice cubes, and went back outside. Raven headed up to her room to think, and get out of Vic's path when he went after Gar.

She locked her door, which had become a habit of hers, and took a seat on her bed to think. He certainly was persistent, though he'd given her space for over a week and a half. She'd never had any man behave like this towards her before. Well, other than Malchior, but that had been a different situation completely. So, what was she to do?

There suddenly came the sound of a loud male scream, some pretty nasty cursing, a hysterical laugh, and then a scuffle. Raven rolled her eyes and went back to thinking.

In truth, she hadn't completely put him out of her mind since they'd last parted a week and a half before. Ever since then she'd had five dreams about the moment they'd shared and they always ended at the same point. She did her best not to look out on him when he was outside, which turned out to be harder than she'd originally expected. Every time she wanted to leave her room she would hear his voice and have to force herself to wait until it was safe to leave. He certainly had a hold on her.

But, putting all of that aside, the point remained that he had been with Tara and he wasn't exactly in her class. No, she didn't think she was better than him, she just knew that it was pretty improbable that they could get along with all of their differences. All of her reason and her logic told her that nothing could ever come of starting anything with Gar. But another part of her, she refused to say her heart because of how cliché it sounded, made her want to forsake logic and just do what felt right. After all, for all of his bad qualities he had twice as many good.

After nearly being killed by Vic after his brilliant prank, Gar had taken refuge up in his room. He now lay in his hammock looking at the slanted ceiling above him. He was filled with anxiety over Raven's pending decision beneath him. He really didn't think she'd say yes, but he always was one for hope. Well, whatever her decision, he hoped she'd get on with it.

Suddenly he heard his door open and the ladder descending. He looked away from the ceiling and braced himself for Vic to come storming up to beat the living hell out of him. To his surprise it wasn't Vic, it was the very girl he was thinking about. Raven slowly came up the ladder then pulled it up behind her, closing the door.

"Uh, hey," he said, clumsily getting out of his hammock and walking over to her. "Are you done thinking?"

"I think I am," she said and then did something he certainly wasn't suspecting.

She walked right up to him, lightly placed her hands on his neck, and gently brought his lips to hers. It was a shy and uncertain first kiss, but a kiss nonetheless. It took Gar a moment, but eventually he shook the shock away and kissed her back. The tension between them immediately disappeared and both felt relived.

"Don't make me regret this," she said against his lips.

"I won't," he replied and kissed her a bit more deeply.


	26. Epilogue

**AN: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Epilogue

They each took one last look around the house to make sure they hadn't accidentally left anything behind. It'd been hell repacking all of their belongings, especially for Vic and Gar who had had to buy a few furniture items while they were there and now didn't know what to do with them. Kori was weeping like mad and wouldn't let go of Dick for a moment. A little dramatic when you considered that they were moving to the same city and were really only a ten minute drive away from each other. As for Gar and Raven, they were being far more discrete. None of their friends knew about their little summer romance and they wanted to keep it that way for a little while longer.

"Well, I think that's it," said Vic. "I've looked through every inch of this place and I can't find anything that's ours."

"Good," said Dick, who was still being held by Kori. "I guess that means it's time to go."

"I'll lock up," said Raven.

"Gar's still up in the attic, just to let you know," said Vic. "Don't lock him in here."

"Damn, you figured out my plan," Raven said in a monotone voice.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind leaving the little seaweed head behind," Vic chuckled. "But we've reserved the house for next year and I don't want it to smell like his dead ass."

"Come on, Jump City's a two hour drive from here," said Dick, walking and practically dragging Kori out the door.

"I'll meet you outside," said Raven as she watched the other three exit the house. Once they were gone she looked around at the empty space they'd inhabited for the summer. It was so quiet and haunting.

She looked over at the piano and saw that it hadn't been covered. She figured she might as well play one last song before covering it up and leaving. She sat down and felt the soft keys once more. She put a bit more pressure on them and began to play Sonata No. 5 in G Major. The sound echoed throughout the empty house almost like a recital hall.

Gar walked down the stairs and saw her playing. He smiled and walked over to her, knowing she wasn't going to run away this time. He walked over to the other side of the piano and leaned on it, watching her with a dopey grin to try and get her attention. Of course she ignored him and continued to play.

"I bet you're gonna miss this piano, huh?" he said.

"I suppose," she replied.

"You should think about getting a degree in music," he said. "That way you have something to fall back on if your whole book thing doesn't take off. Not that I'm saying it won't."

"I'm already prepared for that outcome," she said. "Music is a recreation for me and that's all I ever want it to be."

"You better finish that up or Vic's gonna come in here and yell at you to hurry up," he said.

"I'd like to see him try," Raven said with a small smirk.

She quickened the tempo and finished the piece. Once she was done she sighed and stood up. "Help me cover it," she said and grabbed the cover, throwing it over the piano. He grabbed the other end and the two covered the piano up nicely.

"So, ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," she said. "You?"

"Not really, but I don't really have a choice," Gar shrugged. "So, you've got my number, right?"

"Yes," she said.

"And my email?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

"And my address?" he asked.

"Gar, I have everything apart from you social security number!" she said. "Don't worry, we're not going to lose contact."

"I just wanna make sure," he said, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her closer to him.

"Don't worry, we're going to make this work," said Raven. "I think if we were able to survive this chaotic summer together we have a good fighting chance."

"Wow, to hear _you_ say that must really mean we've got a future," he said with a smile and then kissed her.

"Alright, let's get out of here before they come looking for us," she said, pulling out of his arms and heading for the door.

"Hey, what do you think they'll do when they find out about us?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. "Die from shock, I suppose."

"I think Vic and Dick will have a lot more respect for me," said Gar, proudly. "I swooned the most unswoonable girl in existence."

"You're just dying to tell them, aren't you?" she said as she reached the door.

"You have no idea," laughed Gar.

The two exited the house and she locked it up. She then pocketed the key and the two headed for the two cars in the driveway. Kori was still holding onto Dick, but he was trying to pry her off at this point. Even Vic had grabbed hold of her and was trying to separate the two.

"There you are!" said Dick. "What took you so long?"

"Just doing one last check," said Gar with a smile.

Vic finally stumbled backwards with Kori in his arms. "Good God, you're inhumanly strong!" said Vic, putting her down.

"Dick, I will miss you so much," Kori cried.

"Alright, into the car," said Vic, helping her into Raven's car.

"Call me when you arrive in Jump City," she said, trying to fight Vic off as he pushed her into the passenger's seat.

"Promise me we'll never get like that," Gar whispered to Raven.

"It's a promise," she whispered back.

Vic closed the door and wiped his brow. "Okay, let's go," he said, heading back to his own car.

"Have a safe trip, boys," Raven said and walked over to the driver's side of her car.

"You too," said Dick. "See you next summer, I hope."

"We'll see," said Raven, opening her door and getting in.

The two cars were turned on and both backed out of the driveway. They then followed each other for two hours until they reached Jump City. Then they finally parted ways to go to their own respectable homes.

In the months to come Vic opened up his own car shop. The first few weeks were slow and worrisome, but once word got out he soon found himself becoming more than busy. Dick when back to his police training and never felt more dedicated to his dream. Needless to say, he had Kori move in with him after being apart for two weeks. She had gotten a job as a receptionist at Vic's car shop, which was quickly turning into a large business.

Gar wasn't as lucky finding a job and for a while he had to be satisfied with a dog walking job. Lucky for him, one of the dog owners happened to have a brother who was the head of Jump City's top Veterinary clinic. And, after a few phone calls and an interview or two, Gar found himself as a veterinarian's assistant.

Raven finished her novel a little later than she expected, one week after she'd left the beach house. It was actually published before the end of the year and within three weeks went to the number one sellers list. Before she knew it she was thrown into the spotlight with many magazines, radio shows, and television shows begging for an interview with her. She decided to only do one of each and that would be that until she finished her next book, which she planned to have done by the end of the next spring.

As for Gar and Raven's relationship, they took it slow and casual until they both got onto their feet in the city. Once they both felt secure they started their courting back up and once they were sure they were stable they decided to reveal all to their friends. Needless to say, that was quite an interesting night.

**The End**

**Please Review**

**(And No Flames, Please)**

**AN: Yeah, I know that the ending was rushed and it sucked but, God, I just had to finish this damn story. It was taking far too long. I may return to it and add a few more chapters at a later date, but for now I'm done with it. I hope most of it was enjoyable. And I don't know why the story's littered with those odd square breaks. Hopefully they weren't too distracting.**


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